Kanjli Wetland a picture of apathy, waste of natural beauty

Jalandhar: Once among the most scenic spots of the historic city of Kapurthala, the constantly shrinking Kanjli wetland has been marred by water hyacinth and an overwhelming growth of weeds which seem to have gobbled up the scenic restaurant and picnic spots, which earlier added to its beauty and attracted a steady stream of tourists.

The dumping of garbage there has also diminished its beauty. While they were earlier pressed into service for taking tourists on scenic boat rides, the swan pedal boats now lie discarded among the weeds and bushes. While overgrowth is not the only problem choking the wetland, Kanjli has also been marred by bustling water hyacinth. Compared to 200 to 250 cusecs of water supposed to be released for Kanjli from the Mukerian Hydel Channel, the wetland is getting only 100 cusecs of water at present. Spread over an area of 4.9 square kilometres, Kanjli, which is among the three wetlands in Punjab, including the Sutlej wetland in Ropar and Hari-Ke-Pattan in Amritsar, has lost all migratory birds, which once used to flock to it. Since 2004, due to the increasing presence of water hyacinth and weeds on the wetland, Kanjli has not received any migratory birds. Gurmukh Singh, an activist who has been raising the issue of the Kanjli Wetland’s degeneration with the district administration, said, “The wetland had tourists and birds flocking to it and now has been reduced to a wasteland where waste, syringes and litter remain dumped all the time. Water hyacinth has choked the land and it has been reduced to a garbage dump.” Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, who also took up the cleanliness drive at the wetland several times, said, “The government spent Rs 5 crore on cleaning the wetland. I have cleared it of water hyacinth and weeds several times. Its banks were cleaned and stairs were made and repainted to increase its beauty. But now, it has against been turned into a dump. It’s a loss of precious natural resources and beauty of flora and fauna.” The only restaurant at Kanjli Wetland has turned into a derelict building whereas it was ambitiously established for the tourists some time ago. Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, Mohammed Tayyab, said, “The drainage department had envisioned a plan to rid the area of weeds and start a cleaning process at the wetland. Through the drainage department, the plan had been sent to the government. When the proposal is cleared, the work on cleaning the wetland shall be started.” MLA Rana Gurjit Singh also visited the wetland and assured of chalking out a plan to clear it of water hyacinth.