Harike Wetland is once again at the centre of a conservation debate in Punjab. The state’s long pending plan to desilt the reservoir has run into a wildlife roadblock. The site is a protected Ramsar wetland and wildlife sanctuary. Any large-scale dredging work here needs clearance from wildlife authorities first. This requirement has slowed similar projects for years. The delay comes as Harike Wetland already battles a deep ecological crisis.
How is this Ramsar site facing an ecological crisis?
Harike Wetland was designated a Ramsar site on January 23, 1990. It earned this status as an important waterfowl refuge. The area was later notified as a wildlife sanctuary. Today, it faces several threats at once.
Silt has choked the reservoir over decades. Storage capacity once fell from 67,900 acre feet to just 9,300 acre feet, per Irrigation Department figures reported by The Tribune. Water hyacinth now covers nearly 70 percent of the lake surface. This weed blocks sunlight and starves aquatic life below.
Pollution has added to the strain. Untreated industrial and domestic waste from Ludhiana’s Budha Nullah flows into the Sutlej. The river reportedly turns to Class E quality, unfit for drinking or irrigation, after this discharge. Environmental groups estimate over 700 million litres of wastewater enters the Sutlej daily from Ludhiana alone, with another 350 million litres from Jalandhar.
Jaskirat Singh of the Public Action Committee and Kala Pani Morcha took the pollution issue to the National Green Tribunal. He said the NGT had ordered industries in December 2024 to stop discharging untreated effluents. “Despite these directions, pollution remains a major concern,” he said. Manjit Singh of Water Warriors, Punjab, linked recent fish deaths at Harike to toxic water.
Bird arrivals at Harike Wetland have dropped sharply too, as the table below shows:
| Season | Migratory Birds Recorded |
| 2018-19 | 94,771 |
| 2019-20 | 1,23,128 (highest) |
| 2020-21 | 91,025 |
| 2021-22 | 74,869 |
| 2023 | 65,624 (lowest in six years) |
Source: Harike Waterbird Census, Punjab Forests and Wildlife Department, and WWF Punjab.
Why is Harike Wetland important for Punjab’s biodiversity?
Harike Wetland is the largest wetland in northern India. It spreads across Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Kapurthala districts. Around 375 bird species have been recorded here. Peak winter season can bring close to 45,000 ducks alone. The wetland shelters rare species too. These include the Indus river dolphin, smooth coated otter, gharial and seven types of freshwater turtles. Some 26 fish species also live in its waters.
How does Chandigarh play an important role in this?
Chandigarh plays a quiet but real role in protecting this biodiversity. The office of the Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab, operates from Chandigarh and oversees key conservation decisions for Harike. Volunteers from the Chandigarh Bird Club have taken part in the annual waterbird census at Harike, alongside teams from Jalandhar and Faridkot. Their data feeds into regional biodiversity records, tying Chandigarh’s birding community directly to Harike’s health.
Because Harike Wetland feeds the Rajasthan Feeder and Sirhind Feeder canals, its condition also affects irrigation and drinking water for people far beyond Punjab.
Why has the Harike Wetland desilting plan run into a wildlife roadblock?
Desilting at Harike is not a new idea. Plans to clear silt and repair barrage gates date back to 2015. That project was postponed twice, first over cotton sowing needs, then at Rajasthan’s request. Vigilance officials later booked six engineers over alleged irregularities worth Rs 5.47 crore in earlier desilting work at the barrage.
The core problem remains unchanged. Harike Wetland falls inside a notified wildlife sanctuary. Large scale desilting counts as construction activity within a protected area. This typically needs clearance from the Chief Wildlife Warden and, at times, the National Board for Wildlife. Officials say this approval process has repeatedly slowed similar works in the past.
Roman Brar of the Sanjha Morcha, Zira, has demanded stricter enforcement against polluting industries. He warned of serious consequences for the wetland if corrective steps are delayed further. No fresh date has been officially announced for the next phase of desilting at Harike Wetland. Environmentalists say any work must balance water storage needs against disturbance to nesting birds and aquatic species.
What happens next for Harike Wetland?
Environmental groups have renewed calls for stronger monitoring at Harike Wetland. They want stricter treatment of industrial waste before it reaches the Sutlej. The Punjab government has not announced a fresh timeline for desilting. Officials say clearances, funds and monsoon water levels will decide when work can begin.
For now, Harike Wetland remains both a conservation priority and a project caught between competing demands.