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Rejuvenating EKW (East Kolkata Wetland) towards sustainable livelihoods by ICAR-CIFRI

6^th December, 2024

Inception Workshop of the project entitled "Multiple value assessment - Fisheries & Agriculture, Culture of indigenous fish species & Management of invasive fish species" was held on 06 th December, 2024 at Nalban Food Park, Saltlake, Kolkata with gracious presence of Dr Rajesh Kumar, IPS, Principal Secretary, Dept of Environment, West Bengal as Chief Guest, Dr Kalyan Rudra, Chairman, WBPCB as Special Guest, Shri Atanu Kumar Roy, Sr SPL Secretary, DoF, WB as Special Guest, Shri Smrutiranjan Mohanty, IAS, Director, DoF, West Bengal as honoured Guest including Ms Sarmistha Das, IAS, MD, BENFISH. Other officials of EKWMA, DoF, WRIDD, WBPCB, Dept of Agriculture, Horticulture, KMC, BMC, IESWM, WBUAFS, ICAR institutes - CIFA, CIFE, NBSSLUP also took part showing solidarity to ongoing team activities led by CIFRI. Dr. Basanta Kumar Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI conducted the program leading from front involving his team associated with this .

ICAR-CIFRI executing project activities on East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) in relation to their ecology, fisheries, associated agricultural avenues involving livelihood of around 2 lakhs beneficiaries duly sponsored by EKWMA, Dept of Environment, West Bengal since December 2023. So far 206 nos of bheries have been sampled with detailed studies out of 254 nos or more delineating water resource status, catchment characteristics, cropping intensity, cropping pattern, soil qualities of the catchment for agricultural commodities, ecology & ecosystem of bheries embracing fisheries, indigenous & invasive fish species, aquaculture practices, planning for development of hatchery, pollution, SWOT analysis, marketing involving livelihood components of the associated beneficiaries including leasing system of the resources. The project activities would be continuing till 2027. Number of stakeholders on - field demonstration meetings has been conducted on regular basis enabling the beneficiaries to enrich their knowledge in overall development of these important resources in terms of sustainable production & productivity in a pragmatic manner ensuring a better livelihood in the days to come. The overall project activities have been regularly monitored by the Institute.

This is indeed a very modest attempt taken by EKWMA being executed by ICAR-CIFRI targeting livelihoods of the vast array of beneficiaries associated with these important resources which would be of immense help not only for making livelihoods sustainable but also maintaining the required characters of Ramsar Site consolidated. CIFRI conducting extensive research on the ecology and biodiversity of the wetlands. This includes studying the impact of various factors on the wetland ecosystem and developing sustainable management practices. Technological Integration by CIFRI promotes the use of advanced technologies, such as drone-based systems, for monitoring and managing the wetlands. These technologies will help in mapping wetlands, applying medicines, and managing fish health more efficiently. Dr. Kalyan Rudra urged to prevent encroachment for conserving EKW, which is not only a kidney of Kolkata but also can play a role to hold the surplus water in case of extreme climate scenario.Coordination among different departments is the need of the hour to solve issues of less waste water during pre-monsoon, encroachment, etc.On the other hand, Dr. Rajesh Kumar expressed his happiness over CIFRI's finding of absence of heavy metals in fishes. He calls for exploring other possible new sources of revenue like makhana cultivation, floating Solar power production, etc in EKW.
The output of the interactive session with the farmers and various state departments along with CIFRI scientists will be very useful for future development of EKW.