Sambhar Lake needs faster Restoration

Sambhar Lake is the country’s largest inland saline water body situated 80 km south-west of Jaipur in Rajasthan.
The 230 sq.km. shallow, elliptical wetland straddles the districts of Jaipur, Nagaur and Ajmer.
The water is fed to the lake mainly from the river Mendha and Runpangarh.
Sambhar lake has been also designated as a Ramsar site (wetland of international importance).
It attracts thousands of migratory birds like Flamingos and other birds which migrate from Northern Asia.every year.
Birds like Beautiful pink flamingos, storks, pelicans, redshanks, sandpipers and black-winged stilts are worth a vision.
Sambhar lake produces 196000 tons of clean salt every year.

According to an Expert study undertaken by a research team of the Central University of Rajasthan’s School of Earth Sciences, the Sambhar Lake which is constantly shrinking with the degradation of soil and water quality and a decline in the population of migratory birds, needs a faster restoration for conservation of its wetland and salt brine worth $300 million.

The death of more than 20,000 birds belonging to about 10 species which migrate annually to the lake died due to avian botulism due to which urgent action to restore the lake’s ecosystem for protecting the birds and biodiversity is recommended.
Around 30% of the Sambhar Lake’s area had been lost due to mining and other activities, including the illegal salt pan encroachments.
The past trends showed a reduction of wetland from 30.7% to 3.4% at a constant rate with its conversion into saline soil, which increased by 9.3% while the future predictions had depicted a loss of 40% of wetland and 120% of saline soil with net increase of 30% vegetation, 40% settlement, 10% salt pan and 5% barren land.

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