E-Paper
Drive launched to clear Haiderpur Wetland of encroachment
Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Abhishek Kumar said, “Multiple tractors are being used to remove the encroachment from a large area.”
MEERUT A joint team of forest department, district administration, and the irrigation department has launched a week-long drive to remove encroachment from Haiderpur Wetland -- recognised as a Ramsar site -- inside the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Muzaffarnagar
Confirming the report, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Abhishek Kumar said, “Multiple tractors are being used to remove the encroachment from a large area. It will take at least a week for us to remove it. Lokesh M, the divisional commissioner of Saharanpur, has been physically monitoring the encroachment drive. Local officials have been directed to ensure that no encroachments take place inside the wetland in the future.”
The problem began in the second week of January when the irrigation department drained off water from the wetland into the Ganga. This is an annual exercise to maintain a level of 10,000 cusecs of water at the barrage in the downstream of the river at Narora. However, taking advantage of the water being drained into the Ganga, people from neighbouring villages gradually entered the wetland and started sowing wheat after destroying typha grass, the natural habitat of swamp deer.
Notably, the biodiversity-rich Haiderpur Wetland hosts hundreds of migratory and water bird species that arrive to the sanctuary during the winter season. The wetland, situated on the Ganga bank, is at the border of Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor districts. Taking note of the HT report stating how migratory birds flew away after the wetland was drained of water, the environment ministry had asked the irrigation department to stop its exercise and not drain any more water. Similarly, a week-long encroachment drive has now been launched when HT flagged the encroachment on the wetland by nearby villagers.
