This story is from October 29, 2017

Not funding any project in wetland: Asian Development Bank

Not funding any project in wetland: Asian Development Bank
KOLKATA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has categorically denied that it is funding any project in the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), a site that is internationally protected under the Ramsar Convention. It has further revealed that at least one project in the EKW — an eco park with a bird sanctuary — has been proposed by the state environment department.
Immediately after taking over the reins of the East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority (EKWMA), mayor and environment minister Sovon Chatterjee had announced a clutch of projects in the EKW, including a flyover that would cut through the ecologically fragile zone and trample several waterbodies, and an eco park with a bird sanctuary inspired by the Jurong Bird Park of Singapore at the edge of the wetland along the EM Bypass.
He had further claimed that the sites had been surveyed and project reports prepared though none of it has been placed in the public domain yet.
In reply to a query by ecologist Dhrubajyoti Ghosh, ADB country director (India Resident Mission) Kenichi Yokoyama said: “We would like to inform you that ADB is not funding any works in the EKW... The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the executing agency for the project, is supporting the state environment department to update a study for the wetland park using the services of project consultants.”
The ADB official has sent copies of the letter to the Ramsar Bureau, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change as well as the state environment department and KMC.
Following ADB’s revelations, Ghosh — a former state environment official and who brought EKW’s uniqueness as a waste water recovery resource to the fore and played a key role in its Ramsar listing — has raised questions on the environment department’s role in promoting projects that encroach on the wetlands instead of focusing on preparing the action management plan that is long due.
“The primary job of the environment department and EKWMA is to protect the wetland and preserve its ecology. No projects can be taken up in the protected site unless there is acceptance from Ramsar. The management action plan that should have been prepared immediately after the site's listing in 2002 is yet to be done. Instead, the focus is on projects that that will encroach on the wetlands,” he said.

As an EKWMA member, Ghosh had raised objections to the projects when they were proposed at a meeting chaired by Chatterjee. But his comments were expunged from the minutes of the meeting. He had thereafter resigned. “The crying need is to save the ecosystem from immediate threats. Everyday buildings are being constructed within EKW with unmatched rapidity. Land is being sold to tempted buyers. The department officers have completely surrendered,” he rued.
Other environment activists have pointed out that beyond the Ramsar Bureau, the EKW enjoys the legal protection. In 1992, the Calcutta high court had in a landmark judgment ordered protection of the wetland following a public interest litigation filed by the NGO, Public. The wetland also enjoys protection under the Central Wetland Act.
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