Govt launches ‘major initiative’ to restore Wullar lake: Ramesh

“Wetlands across India are under great threat. Wetland performs a very significant ecological function,” the Minister said at a workshop on Journalism and the Environment organised by the Ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) here.

He also expressed concern over treating wetlands as wastelands in the country.

“Wullar used to be the largest fresh water lake in Asia. Today it is a patch of green. You can’t see any water. We only see willow trees,” he said.

Stating that the Government has launched “a very major initiative” for restoring Wullar lake in “original condition”,Ramesh said,”This will involve the removal of almost 20 lakh willow trees that were planted in mid 1980s as per flood control measure.”

“Now we uproot them in order to create that water body. This will take around 5- 10 years. But we have launched the project,” he said.

“It is a very important step for preserving very large eco system,” he said.

Pitching for “extremely careful” steps to protect the national resources,Ramesh also said plantations are not substitute for natural forests.

“Ecological value of a natural forest is far greater than ecological value of artificial plantation,” he said.

Observing that mineral resources like bauxite,iron ore and coal is in forest areas in India,the Minister also said the economic aspirations of the country and its people should also be fulfilled.

“That is the balance we will have to find. I don’t think that there is a magic formula to this. We have to find the balance between economy and environment,” Ramesh said.

He said the trade off between mineral based industrialisation and the impact of forest is most visible in the states of Orissa,Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

The Minister said the “growth fundamentalism and eco fundamentalism are “dangerous” and “we need to avoid it.”

He also asked the the corporates to “internalise” its commitment to environment.

Ramesh said the Ministry was now adopting a “name and shame approach” to deal with environmental violation by the industries.

Stating that it is easy to impose conditions,the Minister said monitoring their implementation is very difficult.

He said the Ministry has taken action whenever violation has come to light.