After years of uncertainty and anxiety there appears a flicker of hope that the famous Gharana Wetland in RS Pura may be saved and revived to its original glory, thanks to the orders of the Division Bench of State High Court. Close to Suchetgarh in RS Pura, a large patch of land has served as the wetland for the cranes and other species of birds that come from distant Siberian region in Russia during winter. After spending two or three months of winter these birds return to their original places in Siberian region.
At last the Revenue officers have demarcated the actual area of the Gharana wetland which is 97.17 kanals. Encroachments had reduced it to mere 12 kanals. For years at end, neither the Revenue nor the Wild Life Department took any steps to stop illegal encroachment of the Gharana Wetland by the locals. Now the Division Bench has ordered Wild Life Department to fence the entire demarcated area of 97.17 kanals and protect it from flood waters for which weather forecasts would be pressed into service.
The most important thing is that the ecological balance of the wetlands has to be maintained. The villagers of the area are depositing cow dung and garbage on the sides of the wetland and it creates pollution of the water in the wetland. This has to be stopped. Entire environment has to be kept clean. Therefore, the court has issued instructions to the Wild Life Department to ensure the cleanliness and pollution free environs of the wetland in question.
Very rightly the court has taken into account the necessity of establishing a police post for Gharana. So far no post has been established despite earlier orders of the court. Police post is necessary for some reasons. One is that it will ensure that the area is not polluted by the villagers by dumping cow dung and garbage in the vicinity of the wetland area. The second purpose is to ensure that no illegal shooting of birds takes place by unauthorized persons. The third and most important duty of the police post will be to ensure that no illegal encroachment is made by the locals. Encroachment of this wetland should be declared a serious crime and hash punishment should be given to the defaulters.
It is to be noted that a wetland has an inlet and an outlet for water. As it is generally lowland, water accumulates to a certain level and if there is excess of it, the water must flow out from the outlet. The villagers had blocked the outlet and the result was that when there is excess rain water accumulated in the wetland, it loses its characteristics. This is the reason why the court has ordered the Wild Life Department to ensue that the outlet is kept clean and outflow of water should not get obstructed.
Daily Excelsior had been repeatedly inviting the attention of authorities to the need of protecting and preserving the Gharana. It is good news that at last the court has taken cognizance of the issue and saved the Gharana Wetland from total extinction because encroachers would not stop grabbing the land. We hope that the people living in the peripheries of the wetland will understand their responsibility of maintaining the clean environments of the sanctuary and not do anything that would discourage the birds to pay their annual visits.
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