Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Basai Wetlands
Mains level: Not Much
The Basai Wetlands in Gurugram has shrunk to a quarter of its original size over the years.
Basai Wetlands
- Basai wetland, located in Basai village in Gurgaon Haryana is a flora and fauna rich water body.
- It lies in one of the paleochannel of the Sahibi River, a tributary of Yamuna which originates from the Aravalli range in Rajasthan and flows through the region.
Its significance
- It is recognized as one of India’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is of global conservation significance.
- It supports populations of several endangered, vulnerable, and threatened bird species.
- It is recognized globally as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the BirdLife International housing 20,000 birds of over 280 species including migratory birds and endangered birds.
- However, it has not yet been declared a protected wetland by the Government of Haryana.
Threats
- Given the accelerated expansion of the city of the future, the wetland continues to disappear under newly laid roads, modern housing constructions and other infrastructure development.
- An upcoming expressway, cutting through the terrain here, has majorly impacted the flyway of thousands of migratory birds from Europe and Central Asia.
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