Sukhna Lake and Sauj Jheel Become Ramsar Sites, Taking India’s Tally to 103

India now has 103 wetlands of international importance. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced on Thursday, October 15, that Chandigarh’s Sukhna wetland and Sauj Jheel in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri district have been added to the list under the Ramsar Convention, the global treaty for protecting wetlands. In a post on X, he said the milestone “highlights the importance” the government has been placing on wetlands.

Sukhna: Chandigarh’s First Ramsar Site

Sukhna Lake was built in 1958 at the foot of the Shivalik hills and spreads across roughly 3 square kilometres. It is a rain-fed reservoir, filled by seasonal streams that come down from the hills, and the new designation also covers the adjoining Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary. The Ramsar Secretariat lists it as Site No. 2602.

The lake is far more than a promenade for evening walkers. It shelters resident and migratory birds that travel the Central Asian Flyway, including the common pochard, a vulnerable duck, and the endangered Pallas’s fish eagle. The endangered black pond turtle also lives here. “This international recognition is a proud moment for Chandigarh, but it also brings greater responsibility,” said Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria.

Sauj Jheel: A Haven for the Sarus Crane

Sauj Jheel in Mainpuri regularly hosts more than 30,000 waterbirds and is a habitat for the vulnerable Sarus Crane, Uttar Pradesh’s state bird. Its listing takes the state’s Ramsar count to 14 and makes Mainpuri the only district in India with two Ramsar sites.

For farming families around the lake, a healthy wetland is not an abstract idea. Wetlands recharge groundwater, soak up floodwater and support fish and fodder, so their protection is tied directly to rural livelihoods.

What the Ramsar Tag Changes

The Ramsar Convention was signed in 1971 to halt the loss of wetlands worldwide. A listed country commits to a management plan for each site, which means the label brings obligations as well as prestige: catchments have to be guarded, and pollution and encroachment controlled.

That matters for Sukhna in particular, whose catchment is prone to soil erosion and the silt that comes with it. The real test of this recognition will be the quiet, unglamorous work of foresters, local officials and residents who keep these waters alive, the kind of effort we have seen before when Maharashtra’s forest cover grew. As IPB has noted in our reporting on clean water and air, protecting natural resources is, in the end, about protecting people.

Based on reporting by The Tribune and PTI via ThePrint, with background from InsightsIAS.

Image: The Tribune (file).