DAW 3rd February 2026, Mains Answer Writting 2027

Name: Sarat Chandra Academy
Price range: ₹₹
Rating: 4.8

2026-02-03

Question

“India’s challenge is not the absence of wetland laws, but its weak implementation.” Critically examine. (250 Words, 15 Marks).

Approach: Introduction:

Wetlands are critical ecological systems, yet despite a strong legal framework and 98 Ramsar sites, India has lost nearly 40% of its wetlands in three decades.
Hence, the real challenge lies in weak implementation rather than in the absence of laws.

Body: focus on-

Although India has laws, institutions and programmes, weak notification, urban and real-estate pressures, pollution, capacity gaps and fragmented governance continue to undermine protection, compounded by legal ambiguities and exclusion of small wetlands.
A shift from beautification projects to watershed-based governance, community stewardship, technology-enabled monitoring and nature-based infrastructure is essential.

Conclusion:

India’s wetland crisis reflects an implementation and governance failure, not a legislative deficit.
Strengthening institutional capacity and treating wetlands as public infrastructure is vital for water security and climate resilience.

Introduction:

Wetlands, often called the “kidneys of the landscape” and “biological supermarkets,” cover approximately 4.86% of India’s geographical area. On World Wetlands Day 2026 (Theme: ‘Wetlands and traditional knowledge’), a glaring paradox was highlighted: despite having South Asia’s highest number of Ramsar sites (98) and a robust legal framework, nearly 40% of India’s wetlands have vanished in the last three decades. Thus, the crisis is not of legislative vacuum, but of executive paralysis.

Body: India already has a robust legal and institutional framework:

Statutory Framework: The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, decentralized powers to states and established State Wetland Authorities (SWAs) for localized management.
Global Commitments: As a signatory to the Ramsar Convention (1971), India protects sites ranging from the Sundarbans (mangroves) to high-altitude lakes in Ladakh.
Judicial Activism: Courts act as a watchdog. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) and High Courts (e.g., Madras and Meghalaya HC) frequently take suo motu cognizance to remove encroachments.
Programmatic Push: Schemes like NPCA (National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems) and AMRUT 2.0 actively fund “urban blue-green infrastructure.”

The implementation deficit despite these laws, wetlands are degrading rapidly due to systemic enforcement failures:

Issue: The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 depend on states effectively notifying wetlands. Many states deliberately delay this to keep land free for potential diversion.
Data/Evidence: The National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas reveals a disconnect; official records often fail to match the shrinking ground reality due to lack of real-time monitoring.

Issue: In urban master plans, wetlands are often categorized as “wastelands,” facilitating their legal conversion for real estate.
Example: Mumbai lost ~71% of its wetlands (1970–2014) to infrastructure; Chennai’s Pallikaranai marshland has shrunk drastically due to dumping, directly worsening urban floods.

Issue: Wetlands are treated as sinks for sewage rather than life-sustaining systems, violating water quality mandates.
Example: Bellandur Lake (Bengaluru) became infamous for catching fire due to toxic methane and untreated effluent build-up.

Issue: State Wetland Authorities (SWAs) are often understaffed and lack expertise in Hydrology or GIS. Furthermore, overlapping jurisdictions between Forest, Revenue, and Urban departments create a "blame game."
Example: Conflict between CRZ norms and Wetland Rules in coastal cities often leaves mangroves vulnerable to developers.

Structural Gaps in the Law While implementation is the primary culprit, the legal framework itself is not flawless:

Exclusion of Small Wetlands: The 2017 Rules often exclude wetlands smaller than 2.25 hectares. This leaves thousands of village ponds and small tanks vulnerable to land sharks.
Ambiguity of “Wise Use”: The Ramsar concept of “wise use” is often misinterpreted to justify commercial exploitation.
Example: The East Kolkata Wetlands shrank by 36% (1991–2021) due to illegal aquaculture conversions, despite Ramsar status.

Way Forward: From ‘Projects’ to ‘Ecological Functionality’:

Watershed Governance: Move beyond departmental silos to basin-level management.
Case study: The Netherlands’ “Room for the River” project, which treats wetlands as flood-buffers, not obstacles.
Revive Traditional Knowledge: Integrate age-old community practices with modern laws.
Examples: Kulams (Tamil Nadu), Kenis (Wayanad), and traditional fishing systems in Srikakulam.
Tech-Integration: Deploy drones, AI, and satellite remote sensing for real-time surveillance of encroachments and to create "Digital Twins" for flood modelling.
Economic Valuation (PES): Implement Payment for Ecosystem Services.
Case study: The East Kolkata Wetlands save the city millions by treating waste naturally and generating ~$100 million/year from fisheries. This “wealth from waste” model needs replication.
Nature-Based Solutions (NBS): Recognize wetlands as infrastructure. Since mangroves reduce storm surges by 50% (World Bank), funding for them should rival "grey infrastructure" (dams/dikes).

Conclusion:

The Economic Survey (2020–21) rightly termed wetlands as vital for "ecological and social security." The current crisis is a reminder that laws on paper cannot stop pollution on the ground. A societal pact is needed-where science guides policy, and communities drive protection. As Mahatma Gandhi cautioned, “The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” Strengthening implementation is the only way to curb this greed and secure India’s water resilience.