In a key meeting on September 19, Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria chaired the fourth session of the State Wetland Authority in Chandigarh. Top officials, including the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary-cum-Forest Secretary, and senior Chandigarh Administration officers, joined in. Experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) also attended to share their insights.
The big highlight? The authority greenlit a comprehensive five-year Integrated Management Plan for Sukhna Wetland. The Forest Department crafted this Rs 22.5 crore blueprint with input from WWF and other local departments. It focuses on hands-on steps for protecting, conserving, and scientifically managing the wetland. Now, the plan heads to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) Wetland Division to secure funding under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems.
That’s not all. The meeting also approved a push to declare Sukhna Wetland as India’s latest Ramsar site—the first for the Union Territory of Chandigarh. This global tag from the Ramsar Convention would spotlight the wetland’s vital role in ecology and culture, putting it on the world map for wetland conservation.
The proposal will soon move to MoEF&CC, which will coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ramsar Secretariat to make it official. To wrap things up, the authority urged all relevant departments to act quickly on protecting Sukhna Lake and other Chandigarh water bodies, ensuring timely steps for their long-term health.
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