Over Rs 1,000 crore has been released for conservation of 160 wetlands in the country under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) by the Central government.
While the Central and state governments take all possible steps for restoration, conservation and preservation of lakes and wetlands, developmental activities and anthropogenic pressures do affect water bodies.
On government schemes to save, conserve or revive such lakes, the Centre has so far released its share of Rs 1,046.53 crore for conservation of 160 wetlands in the country under NPCA.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) is currently implementing a centrally sponsored scheme, namely the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA), for conservation and management of identified wetlands (includes lakes) in the country on cost sharing basis between the Central government and respective state governments.
Under the NPCA scheme, the Central assistance is based on proposals received from state governments, conformity with guidelines and budget availability. Accordingly, so far the Ministry has sanctioned projects for conservation of 160 wetlands in the country and released an amount of about Rs 1,046.53 crore as Central share.
NPCA is a single conservation programme for both wetlands and lakes. It is a centrally sponsored scheme, currently being implemented by the environment ministry, and was formulated in 2015 by merging of the National Lake Conservation Plan and the National Wetlands Conservation Programme.
It covers various activities such as interception, diversion and treatment of wastewater, shoreline protection, lakefront development, in-situ cleaning like desilting and de-weeding, stormwater management, bioremediation, catchment area treatment, lake beautification, survey & demarcation, bio-fencing, fisheries development, weed control, biodiversity conservation, education and awareness creation, community participation, etc.