The first meeting of State Wetlands Authority was held on 10.8.2023 under the Chairmanship of Sh. Prabodh Saxena, Chief Secretary Govt of Himachal Pradesh and Vice Chairman of H.P. State Wetlands Authority. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Govt. of India has notified the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017 under the Environment Protection Act 1986. The H.P Govt. has notified the HPSWA under Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017. In Himachal Pradesh, there are 2343 wetlands which include 1607 inland Natural Wetlands, 736 inland Man Made wetlands having an area of about 118582.86 ha as per National Wetland Atlas 2022 (part of project on National Wetland Inventory & Assessment). The State of Himachal Pradesh has three “Ramsar Sites- Wetlands of International Importance” namely Pong Dam (Kangra), Renuka Ji (Sirmour) and Chandertal (Lahaul & Spiti). Beside, Rewalsar (Mandi) and Khajjiar (Chamba) have also been included as the Wetlands of National importance.
The HPSWA has given the approval for submission of five years Integrated Management Action Plans of Pong Dam, Renuka Ji and Chandertal Wetlands to Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India for Financial Assistance.
The major components of Pong Dam Wetland IMP:
Sr. No.
Management Plan Component
Budget for Five Years (In Lakhs)
Budget for Ist year 2023-24 (In Lakhs)
1.
Institutions and Governance
2500
404.8
2.
Water Management and pollution abatement
752
95.4
3.
Conservation of species and Habitat
1045
202
4.
Sustainable Resource Development
2455
204
Grand Total
6752
906.2
The major components of Renuka Wetland IMP:
Sr. No.
Management Plan Component
Budget for Five Years (In Lakhs)
Budget for Ist year 2023-24 (in Lakhs)
1.
Catchment & Hydrology
396.39
324.52
2.
Biodiversity and habitats
245.8
3.
Ecosystem services & livelihoods
486.6
4.
Institutions & Governance
305
Grand Total
1433.79
The major components of Chandertal Wetland IMP:
Sr. No.
Management Plan Component
Budget for Five Years
(in Lakhs)
Budget for Ist year 2023-24 (in Lakhs)
1.
Institutions and Governance
315.10
154.4
2.
Wetland Inventory, Assessment and Monitoring
313.50
6.0
3.
Communication and Outreach
1,047.25
6.5
4.
Water Regime and Habitat management
32.50
–
5.
Responsible wetland tourism
129.80
5.8
Grand Total
1,838.2
172.7
The Expert committee members’ nomination was approved by the HPSWA in the fields of wetland ecology, hydrology, fisheries, landscape planning and socio-economic.
S.No
Member
Designation
1.
Dr. Ritesh Kumar, Director, Wetland International South Asia (WISA), New Delhi.
Member
2.
Dr. D.R.Thakur, Professor, Department of Biosciences, HPU Shimla.
Member
3.
Dr Satish Bhardwaj, Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Science,Dr. Y.S.Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry Nauni, Solan.
Member
4.
Mr. Sat Pal Mehta, Retired Director, Department of Fisheries, Bilaspur, H.P
Member
5.
Mr. Abhimanyu Pathania, Assistant Professor, Govt. Hydro-Engineering College Bandla, Distt Bilaspur.
Member
The proposal to constitute District Level Wetlands Committees was approved. The district level committee will monitor the activities effectively at district level and give the inputs to HPSWA. District Level Wetland Committees shall have Deputy Commissioner of the respective district as the Head, Divisional Forest Officer as Member Convener, Government officials from key Departments as members as well as nominated wetland expert(s).
The HPSWA has given the approval to constitute the Technical and Grievance Committees. The Technical Committee will review brief documents of wetlands, management plans and advise on any technical matter referred by Wetlands Authority and a Grievance Committee to provide mechanism for hearing and forwarding the grievances raised by public to the Authority.
The HPSWA has been apprised about the listed 25 major Wetlands in addition to three Ramsar Wetlands and two Wetlands of National importance.
The proposal of enhancement of annual budget of HPSWA from Rs. 5.00 lakhs to Rs. 15.00 lakhs has been approved to undertake various awareness activities, programmes etc.
The Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary Revenue, Principal Secretary Tourism & Civil Aviation, Special Secretary Forest, Member Secretary HP State Wetlands Authority-cum- Member Secretary HP State Biodiversity Board, Principal Chief Conservator Forests (WL)-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden, H.P. Forest Department, Member Secretary HP State Pollution Control Board, Joint Member Secretary HP State Wetlands Authority, Joint Secretary Fisheries, Assistant Director, Regional Office Shimla, MoEF&CC, Superintending Engineer Jal Shakti Vibhag, Project Director Rural Development Department, Divisional Forest Officer (WL) Hamirpur, Divisional Forest Officer Mandi, Divisional Forest Officer (WL) Shimla, Range Forest Officer (WL) Khajjiar, Chamba and experts/ knowledge partners from Wetlands International South Asia and GIZ were present in the meeting.
