ITANAGAR, Dec 4: The 2nd State Wetland Authority (SWA) meeting was held today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pema Khandu.  
Khandu, also being the minister in-charge of Environment and Forest expressed concern over the reported decrease in area of wetlands in the state in the last ten years and stressed on the need for conservation and management through a proper state policy. He observed that as a nodal agency, the state’s Environment and Forest department needs to work on conservation and management of wetlands beginning with identification, survey and mapping of all water bodies and suggested that help may be taken from the State Remote Sensing Application Centre, which is already working in geo tagging and mapping of state’s geographical features and assets. “Once these water bodies are identified and mapped, we can notify these through the State Wetland Authority and work on conservation and management through the centrally sponsored scheme of National Wetlands Conservation Program,” Khandu suggested. For research and documentation of the wetlands, he added that universities and research institutes can be roped in by the department.
Principal Secretary and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Lalram Thanga regretted that Arunachal despite having a vast resource of wetlands that can compete with any notified wetland, is yet to get benefited from the centrally funded schemes. He underscored the urgent need to work on it by survey and mapping of water bodies besides formulating a comprehensive and inclusive state wetland conservation and management policy. Tourism Secretary Sadhna Deori suggested that the tourism aspect may be taken into account while formulating a state policy on wetlands as almost all lakes and ponds are hot tourist destinations or can be developed into such. Deputy Director (Environment) D Dohu Robin informed that during a recent meeting on August 26 last on Wetlands chaired by Secretary, MoEF& CC, GoI for inclusion of 100 wetlands in India and its restoration measures, five wetlands were selected from Arunachal Pradesh for conservation and restoration which are Shungatser Lake (Tawang), Pasang Sonam Tso (Shi-Yomi), Glaw Lake (Lohit), Mehao Lake and Sally Lake (Lower Dibang Valley). 
As per Forest Survey of India Report 2017, Arunachal has witnessed a decrease of 195 sq. km in the water body coverage within forests compared to 2005 due to degradation of catchment areas of many rivers/water bodies as a result of jhum (slash-and-burn) cultivation, landslides, encroachment, deforestation and other developmental activities. According to State Remote Sensing Application Centre report of 2010-11, the state has 852.54 sq. kms of total geographical area under water, which includes 790.012 sq. kms of rivers and 62.53 sq. kms of lakes and ponds. However, these are yet to be officially identified and mapped in line with the provisions of the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules which mandate that all state governments shall set up a State Level Wetland Authority entrusted with the affairs related to wetland conservation, regulation and management under the relevant state bye-laws.
The meeting was attended by the officers of State Remote Sensing Application Centre, departments of Environment and Forests, Fisheries, Tourism and Town Planning and the G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development. CMO 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
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