Who (re)moved my cheese!

The other day, I wished to visit Pariej wetland (popularly known as Pariej ‘Lake’) located at a distance of 64 km from Ahmedabad on Kheda-Khmbhat highway. The wetland is a well-known  Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) in Gujarat. As a frequent wanderer in this wetland area, I had taken for granted that before reaching the entrance of the Pariej wetland’s ecotourism site, my vehicle would traverse for some distance on the Kheda-Khambhat highway parallel to a portion of the periphery of Pariej wetland on one side of the highway. I was enthusiastic to see another fairly large shallow water wetland lying on the opposite side of the highway lined with a long “green wall” of dense growth of the cattail (an emergent aquatic plant) along the highway. I had great aspiration to enjoy rich waterbird diversity which usually thrives in the shallow waters of this wetland especially in winters. But Alas! On that day, when I began to drive my car slowly on approaching the cattail bordered wetland opposite to Pariej ‘lake’, I saw only a wet ground instead of a shallow water wetland. What was more shocking was the fact that the wetland had not dried up naturally on its own. Rather, it was intentionally drained by some human agency which had dug a narrow channel at a level slightly below that of the basin of the wetland, so that all the water of the wetland was getting poured into the channel. The water was being carried away elsewhere through this channel, but I could not find where!  I could see that due to lack of even shallow water, only a very few common waterbirds like stilts and egrets. Surprisingly, there was a lone Great White Pelican standing helpless and perhaps in the state of hopelessness! I felt as if it was apprehensive and thinking “Who (re)moved my cheese”? Even I, a nature enthusiast and a birder could not stop myself from thinking-“Who (re)moved my cheese?” as I could not find even a single flamingo, painted stork, dabbling ducks or waders like godwits and avocets for me!

Indian Sarus Crane, popularly known as Sarus, is a globally Vulnerable (VU) bird and also the world’s tallest flying bird in the world. Few years back, a pair of Sarus Crane used to build its nest in an appropriate season each year amidst a countryside shallow pond (“Sim-talaavdi”) of a village, approximately at 10 km from well-known Thol wetland (Thol ‘Lake’) in Mehsana district. The pond was a “cheese” for that pair as it had become its favourite nesting place. But, during one visit, it was found that their “cheese” was removed! The pond was excavated using JCB machine by some people for extracting soil from it. Due to the excavation activity, the pond had become so deep that it was no longer useful for the Sarus-pair for the nesting purpose! Their “cheese” was (re)moved by some elements of our society. Heavy JCB machine had removed tons of wetland soil for agricultural/construction purpose. The “refugee” Sarus-pair was compelled to take shelter in a nearby paddy field for nesting, where it had to live and nest at the mercy of a farmer’s tolerance-level. 

Our rural and sub-urban landscapes are full of such incidents of “tampering” with wetlands that are in fact, the invaluable habitats for aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna. Are we considering land, let it be a wetland, as just physical entity to be used for our socio-economic activity? Can’t we appreciate the fact it is an assemblage of soil, water and flora and fauna including that it is biophysical entity? 

The Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 of India prohibit activities like conversion of wetland for non-wetland uses including encroachment of any kind. But, where is the awareness and seriousness to understand this?

Founding Editor of e-Periodical Jalaplavit, Senior Scientist and Ph.D scholar from West Virginia University 
ketantatu1@gmail.com