What are the environmental implications of the reclamation of the water bodies into urban land use? Explain with examples. UPSC IAS Mains 2021 General Studies (Paper – 1)
Land reclamation means creating land either by removing water from muddy areas or raising the level of the land. With an increasing demand for land, it can be a good solution for creating areas for building, agriculture and other uses.
However, it is one of the most consequential fields of human induced environmental transformation and has many environmental consequences such as:
- Damaged Ecology: Urban land transformation leads to creation of residential, commercial buildings around water bodies, causing degradation of water ecology and influx of nutrients. Dal Lake and other water bodies in Srinagar are a great example of it. Land reclamation can also change the shape of the seabed and wave patterns leading to changes in the ecosystem.
- Frequent Floods: Water bodies act as sponges for rainfall, reclamation of water bodies, has led to higher incidences of floods. Depletion of vegetation, transformation of soil cover to concretised landscape has reduced permeability, increased run-off. The biggest example of it is Mumbai.
- Extinction of Species: Land reclamation of wetlands has increased the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) which is detrimental not only for aquatic species but also for aerial fauna.
- Pollution: Water bodies have been turned into landfills in several cases. Because of heavy pollution of Hussainsagar Lake, many pollutants get carried into underground water bodies. Though percolation filters many pollutants, open wells or bore wells receive certain pollutants causing groundwater pollution.
Water bodies not only support high concentrations of biodiversity, but also offer a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services like food, water, fiber, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, storm protection, erosion control, carbon storage and climate regulation. Hence their conservation is an imperative.
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