Sign e-grievance form for Action : Save Badha Lake Campaign - An effort to revive the Lost Wetland at Fazilka

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Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court
Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India
Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission
Chief Minister Punjab

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Subject:

Dear [Decision Maker],

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Through my letter I would like to bring your kind attention toward the most critical issue of “vanished” Badha Lake wetland at Fazilka (Punjab). Fazilka was established by Britshers Mr Patric Van Agnew in 1844 on the banks of this horse shoe lake. Till late 80 Fazilka’s eco-system was perfectly balanced by three wetlands namely — Badha, Jhangar, and Ganj Bakhash. These three were among the 32 old natural wetlands in the state, which are now almost on the verge of disappearance mainly due to the unplanned development process that has transformed these sites into dry farmlands.

Badha wetland appears to be the worst hit, because of diverting Satluj river water to the adjacent state by the Central Water Commission, Government of India. This has been done to undoubtedly win over vote bank; the diversion has made the lake fluoride-ridden, with an increase in the total dissolved solids in groundwater. In an article by V K Joshi, former Director, Geological Survey of India (GSI) mentioned Fazilka on fluoride red alert list. Recent studies have shown that the fluoride content in tube-well water in Fazilka is 6 to 12 mg per litre. Almost 70 per cent of Fazilka’s population suffers from dental decay. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for fluoride content is 1-1.5 mg.

In 2000, Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) warned in their report to state environment department that the conservation of these wetlands is essential. However, at that time Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepur, Mr. Kulbir Singh Sidhu, assured to retrieve these sites as the natural habitats of migratory bird but no action has been taken so far.

Now-a-days, dry Lake Bed is a favorite spot for sand miners. Initially land has been illegally used for sand mining. Later, such practice was regularized without considering its impact on the environment. Sand mining on river bed always leads to drying up of riverbeds soon after monsoon lowers the ground water table and increase salinity in ground water. Permission for sand mining from river bed from Punjab Irrigation Department under Environment Protection Act has not been obtained by any of the agency.

Fauna of this area has been damaged due to depletion of green belt and water body, which provides natural habitat to birds like sparrows, peacocks, parrot etc. Peacock and many other rare species from this area have already been entered into endangered species list of Punjab wildlife department. This colony comes under the flood plain of and discharge basin of river Satluj (earlier this used to get its water feed from river Satluj) at the time of flooding.

In September, 1988 floods, this entire area behind the Salemshal minor was submerged under water Salemshal minor presently define municipal boundary limit of Fazilka and acting as a safety bund to protect Fazilka against flood. Planning residential colony in this flood plan is not only the violation of building by laws but also a violation of special recommendations by Disaster Management Group, Government of India. No provisions of Green belt and park have been kept while planning this colony.

Wetlands are rich in biological diversity and are recognized amongst the most productive ecosystems. The only ray of hope for Fazilka region people is recharging Badha Lake wetland with fresh water feed from river Satluj through existing networks of canal. This will not only maintain the bio-diversity, but also improve the ground water quality of this area. Come forward and save our region from “Climate Change”. I hereby request you to kindly take necessary action in this regard to save the future of the citizen of this small beautiful border town.

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