The heavy floods of 2015 in Chennai were a man-made disaster. Unplanned urbanisation, coupled with encroachment of wetlands in and around the city and their conversion into sites for waste disposal, commercial establishments and residential constructions were the primary reasons for the floods. The damage caused should have been a wake-up call for the governments at the State and the Centre but it is shocking that they are planning for more disasters by diverting Ennore wetlands for industrial installations (“Time to change course,” July 27). Wetlands are of great ecological and economic importance. They help to maintain water at normal levels in lakes, ponds, rivers and also act as recharge and purification aquifers. Occupation of wetlands modifies the course of the overflowing rivers and disturbs the ecosystem. India is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (1971), whose mission is the conservation and wise utilisation of wetlands through local and international cooperation. Governments have to comply by the convention’s rules. Construction cannot be forbidden but proper planning and mandatory environmental audit can do great good good both to the government and the wetland ecosystem.
Archana Venkatamadhvaraj,
Thoothukudi
