The Vanishing Wetlands of India

[Aditya Panda]

That's a fantastic write up Ranbir. If I am correct, even now wetlands are officially classified as 'waste land' in our country.

Floodplains are crucial habitats for a variety of species and have historically been recognised for their fertility. Annual monsoon flooding was looked forward to by farmers a couple of decades ago because the layer of alluvium that was left behind by the receding flood waters was super-rich in nutrients and ensured a good kharif crop- usually paddy- and would still give a good winter crop of vegetables after the paddy was harvested.

Unfortunately in today's date, in our insatiable hunger for more land we are filling up flood plains and building factories and cities on them. It pains me to see the floodplains of the Mahanadi and its tributaries vanishing to mushrooming housing complexes in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. I'm sure its the same story over most of India. Its funny and stupid when when we term floods as 'natural disasters' and attempt to 'bund' rivers after inhabiting their floodplains! Floodplains are a river's lungs- a river literally 'breathes' in and out annually. This is vital for the river's ecology and the ecology of wetlands around it.

Our dumb race in its usual dumb self, tries to dominate over floodplains, just like it does to every other landscape, and then complains that the river is the cause of a 'natural calamity'! What can be more stupid than that?! Will we ever acknowledge the fact that it is impossible to control a river without wreaking havoc on its ecology?

Regards,
Aditya