Warning bells rung on Wetlands Day
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 02, 2012: Impending danger posed to human kind due to ecological imbalance has been highlighted as the State joined in the observance of World Wetlands Day today.

The observance was organised at Hotel Imphal and Thanga Chinglak Bazar community hall by different organisations.

At an observance function jointly organised by Manipur Pollution Control Board and Eco Club at the conference hall of Hotel Imphal, Principal (Retd) of DM College of Science Prof G Tomba Sharma said the global observance was conceived at the Ramsar Convention in 1971. Pointing out that nearly 2000 wetland sites have been identified or recorded so far, Prof Tomba Sharma, as chief guest of the observance explained that a vast tract of marshy land qualifies for reference as a wetland.

Water bodies with abundant growth of vegetation, particularly tree species, are also known as wetland, said the Professor who expressed remorse that in the context of Manipur, policy makers are sacrificing wetlands for generation of hydro power.

Cautioning that the ecology of Loktak Lake has been undergoing drastic changes in the past few decades, he suggested that there should be equal emphasis on protecting one of the largest fresh water bodies in the region along with sustaining its power generation potentiality.

Strongly advocating an effective mechanism to check rapid pollution of the Lake due to filth carried into the water body by the rivers, the chief guest also proposed that steps be adopted for growing water-hyacinth in the Lake as the plant species is a known absorber/cleanser of pollutants.

State joined in the observance of World Wetlands Day at Hotel Imphal

Besides Loktak Lake, people of Manipur, especially those settled in the plains are fortunate enough to have a number of smaller lakes and shallow sites as they serve as water depositing points thereby preventing widespread flood-related devastation during rainy season, Prof Tomba maintained but hastened to add that such a reprieve might be history in the near future for several marshy sites have been filled for large-scale constructions.

In his address as the guest of honour, Dr B Manihar Sharma of Manipur University's Life Science Department informed the gathering that wetlands could be developed to promote the tourism industry in Manipur.

He also drew the attention of the policy makers and stakeholders concerned for an effective legislation to protect and preserve the Loktak Lake.

Dr Manihar also urged the common people to contribute their mite in saving the Lake.

while Senior Environmental Engineer of Manipur Pollution Control Board N Minaketan Singh presented a detailed account on the scale of devastation caused to the wetlands and its negative impact on the environment, GIS expert Scientist (Wetlands) of Manipur Remote Sensing Application Centre RK Sunita Devi deliberated on 'Wetlands with reference to present scenario of Manipur' and United College, Chandel's Senior Lecturer (anthropology) K Ingocha Singh elaborated on the topic 'Voice Board in Eco clubs School'.

Prizes to position winners of a photo exhibition organised in connection with the observance was also held on the occasion.

At Thanga, the observance was jointly organised by All Manipur Thanga People's Welfare Association and All Loktak Area Fishermen's Union under the aegis of Loktak Development Authority.

As a resource person of the event, Citizens' Concern for Dam and Development chairperson RK Ranjan said protection of Loktak Lake should neither be left to a few individuals nor expect abundant fund provision to improve the situation as people settled in the periphery of the fresh water body will have to shoulder equal responsibility through their traditional knowledge and practices.

Contending that there are some individuals in Manipur who had reaped rich dividends out of crores of rupees allocated for development and protection of the lake, he maintained that even research scholars under Manipur university are sharing the spoils under the pretext of research works on the Lake.

Noting that top officials of Loktak Development Authority had already conceded that water of the lake has been polluted to such an extent that it poses health hazards to the users, RK Ranjan suggested that evicting fishermen from the Lake is not the solution for there is need for minute assessment and understanding the root cause of pollution.

Pointing out that rivers flowing into and out of the Lake had been the natural mechanism for the preservation of the Lake, he regretted that construction of the Ithai Barrage has been disrupting the natural course of the water body thereby reducing the Lake to a silt depositing zone.

fishermen Union's president Haobijam Kulla speaking at the occasion remarked that out of the global total of Ramsar sites, Loktak lake of Manipur figures in the top five list of 'threatened wetlands'.

The Lake is also among 48 'most polluted lakes' in the world, he maintained while conveying that the Ramsar Convention enlisted the Loktak Lake as one of the Ramsar sites on march 23, 1990. Further pointing out that objective of World Wetlands Day observance on this day since 1996 is not only to remind all concerned on the impending danger posed to human kind as a consequences of the diminishing number of wetlands but also to galvanise support for effective preventive measures, he sought support of the masses in the protection of Loktak Lake.

Among others, Imphal Free press editor Pradip Phanjoubam, Human Rights Alert director Babloo Loitongbam and Life Watch Manipur secretary general A Ramesh Singh also spoke on related issues.

It is said that there are 1927 wetlands in the world out of which 311 are in African region, 255 in Asia and maximum of 938 in Europe.