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The invasion of wetlands is one of the reasons for the climate change, according to K Umamaheshwara Rao, Director of National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK).
Inaugurating a workshop on ‘wetlands and climate change’, jointly organised by the College of Fisheries, Mangaluru, and the Karnataka Science and Technology Academy, Bengaluru, in Mangaluru on Tuesday, he said that nearly 0.5 per cent of the fresh water is captured in wetlands in the earth.
However, there is a great amount of misuse of wetlands across the globe in the name of various development projects. Such an invasion of wetlands is having an impact on climate across the globe.
Giving the example of the erstwhile Hyderabad, he said Hyderabad had more than 3,000 lakes before independence. Now there are not even 300 lakes in Hyderabad, he said.
Wetlands are the sinks of carbon sequestration, and there is a need to prevent their misuse.
He further said a great amount of water is being misused in various sectors, including agriculture. However, Israel has shown a way in the effective utilisation of water for agricultural activities, he said.
Referring to the flood-like situation in Mangaluru on last year May 29, G Santhosh Kumar, Assistant Commissioner (Revenue), Mangaluru, said some stretches of storm-water drains in the city were closed due to encroachment and other factors. That was one of the reasons for the flood-like situation on that day.
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