Birds, dolphins, eco tourism, river pollution to take centre stage on World Wetlands Day in Punjab | Chandigarh News
BATHINDA: The green warriors, third year in a row, are getting prepared to observe the World Wetlands Day with a beda yatra (boat ride) and a nature walk at Harike in district Ferozepur on February 2. The pro environmental organisations Bhoomitra and PAC Satluj, Mattewara, Buddha Dariya have planned to assemble at Karmuwal village near Harike wetland. Claire Nicolet, a handpan musician and a psychologist from France will perform on the significance of the day. Earlier Rabbi Shergill and Niccolo Vacchi a saxophonist had performed in the last two years respectively.
Sunny Sandhu from Bhoomitra said, “beda yatra and bird-watching has been planned at the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers at Harike, which is an important wetland and a haven for wildlife. This event offers an opportunity to witness the incredible diversity of migratory birds, including Siberian cranes, bar-headed geese, northern shovelers, and other remarkable species that travel thousands of kilometers in the winter season. However, Harike Pattan is also home to the endangered freshwater Indus River dolphins, a species that thrives in the cleaner waters of the Beas River. Sadly, while the Beas remains relatively pristine and supports these dolphins, the Sutlej River faces severe pollution challenges due to industrial effluents and untreated sewage.
This stark contrast between the two rivers highlights the urgent need to address the growing issue of river pollution, he added.
Jaskirat Singh of PAC said, “Through this unique initiative, we aim to not only celebrate the rich biodiversity of Harike but also draw attention to the importance of conserving these critical habitats. Wetlands like Harike are facing the brunt of polluted Sutlej waters and if we can tame polluters of the Buddha Dariya, Kala Sanghia drain and Chitti Bein then we can achieve a cleaner Satluj just like the Beas River which is far better and in turn a cleaner Harike Wetland. We should all work towards protecting this vital wetland and ensuring that its biodiversity thrives for generations to come. The success of this event in last two years and the rising interest of environment activists, musicians and poets to promote and protect wetlands and rivers is a testament to the fact that people of Punjab are resisting the pollution and plunder of rivers and natural ecosystems of Punjab. This will also save people of Punjab and Rajasthan from a toxic drinking water which has given rise to movements like Kale Pani Da Morcha.”
Jaspreet Singh and Sarpanch Iqbal Singh, environmentalists from Tarn Taran said, “The quality and quantity of fish in the rivers has dropped very significantly in the past few years. The Sutlej fish is very poor in health, size and colour due to pollution in the river. The Beas fish has gone down in quantity ever since there was a large leak of molasses in the river in 2018 from a sugar factory in Kiri Afghana village in Gurdaspur which led to very significant reduction, and it never recovered to the original levels after that massive ecological disaster. The government should look into this issue and get some study conducted by experts to fix these problems.”
The activists say they want sustainable ecotourism to be promoted in such areas so that the ecology can be conserved, and local populations and boatmen can also benefit from its conservation. It should be done by building campsites, bicycle paths and rewilding Beas conservation zone. Jeanette Satpel a social media consultant from Bahrain will be present to document the event.
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