India’s Ramsar Site tally reaches 103 with addition of Sukhna Wetland (Chandigarh) and Sauj Jheel (UP)

1. At a Glance

• Ramsar Sites are "Wetlands of International Importance" listed under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971). A site qualifies by meeting at least one of nine criteria [3][6].
• India's tally reached 103 on 15 Oct 2026 with Sukhna Wetland (Chandigarh) and Sauj Jheel (Uttar Pradesh) [1].
• Why it matters: questions on state-wise counts, the first sites, the designation criteria, the Montreux Record and Amrit Dharohar come up often in Prelims. Wetland governance (federal role, the 2017 Rules, urban lakes) is standard GS-III material.

2. Why in the News

• 15 Oct 2026: Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that India's tally had reached 103, with Sukhna Wetland and Sauj Jheel as the latest additions, under the #AmritDharohar tag [1].
• 20 Jul 2026: in Lok Sabha Starred Q. No. 5, MoEFCC said proposals for four wetlands had been sent to the Ramsar Secretariat: Glaw Lake (Arunachal Pradesh), Sukhna Wetland (Chandigarh), Gosabara–Mokarsagar Wetland Complex (Gujarat), Sauj Jheel (UP) [3].
• ⚠️ The tally was 100 on 20 Jul 2026 [3], so three sites were added before 15 Oct 2026. The PIB release names only two [1]. The sources I checked do not identify the third (101st) site. Check the Ramsar Sites Information Service (RSIS) before quoting it.

3. Background & Evolution

• 1971: the Convention text was agreed at Ramsar, Iran, and 18 nations signed it [6].
• Dec 1975: the Convention entered into force. UNESCO is the depositary [6].
• 1990: COP4 at Montreux, Switzerland created the Montreux Record, a register of Ramsar sites whose ecological character has changed or is likely to change because of human activity [7][8].
• 01-10-1981: Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) became India's first Ramsar sites [3].
• 23-03-1990: Wular, Loktak, Harike and Sambhar were designated [3].
• 19-08-2002: a large batch of sites was designated, including Kolleru, Deepor Beel, Bhoj, Tsomoriri, Vembanad-Kol, Bhitarkanika, East Calcutta Wetlands and Point Calimere [3].
• 08-04-2022: Tamil Nadu added 10 sites in one day [3].
• June 2023: MoEFCC launched Amrit Dharohar (announced in the 2023-24 Budget) to promote the conservation values of Ramsar sites, generate employment and support local livelihoods. It has four components and runs for three years [5].
• Feb 2024: the tally reached 80 with five additions before World Wetlands Day [4]. Aug 2024: three more were added before Independence Day [10]. Feb 2025: the tally reached 89 [5].
• 19-01-2026: Shekha (Sheikha) Jheel became India's 99th Ramsar site, taking UP to 12 [2][3].
• Jul 2026: 100 sites, of which 25 were designated in 2023–26 [3]. Oct 2026: 103 sites [1].

4. Core Static Facts

The nine criteria [3]:

• Criterion 1: a representative, rare or unique wetland type.
• Criteria 2–4: species and ecological communities: threatened species, biogeographic diversity, critical life stages or refuge.
• Criterion 5: regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.
• Criterion 6: regularly supports 1% of a waterbird population.
• Criteria 7–8: fish (indigenous fish diversity; food, spawning, nursery or migration paths).
• Criterion 9: food/water, recreation, eco-tourism, cultural heritage (as listed by MoEFCC).

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Environmental

• Wetlands support biodiversity, water security and climate security [1].
• Inland bird sanctuaries make up much of the recent growth, for example Shekha Jheel and Jai Prakash Narayan Bird Sanctuary in UP [2][3]. This reflects India's position on the Central Asian Flyway, as Keoladeo's Siberian Crane wintering role shows [3].
• Criterion 5 (20,000 or more waterbirds) and Criterion 6 (1% of a population) are the usual routes for bird-sanctuary listings [3].

Economic / Livelihoods

• The Minister presented the sites as nature-tourism destinations [1].
• Amrit Dharohar links Ramsar sites to livelihoods and eco-tourism [5].
• Criterion 9 recognises wetlands as sources of food and water and as recreation sites [3].

Governance / Federal

• Designation is bottom-up: States/UTs identify sites and the Centre forwards proposals to the Secretariat [3].
• 25 sites in 2023–26 versus 75 in the preceding four decades shows a sharp policy-driven acceleration [3].
• Risk: listing faster than management capacity grows. The Montreux Record exists for sites whose ecological character has degraded [7].

Legal

• The Ramsar Convention is a framework treaty with no binding penalties. Domestic enforcement depends on the 2017 Wetlands Rules under the EP Act, 1986 [9].

Urban ecology

• Sukhna is a wetland inside a city in a UT [1]. Ramsar listing gives it an international commitment to wise use, alongside the existing urban-lake governance.

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 19-02-2025: Rajasthan's Menar Wetland Complex (Udaipur) and Khichan Wetland (Phalodi) were designated [3].
• 13-05-2025: Bihar's Gokul Jalashay, Udaipur Jheel and Gogabil Lake were designated [3].
• 16-06-2025: Chhari Dhand (Gujarat) [3].
• 07-07-2025: Siliserh Lake (Alwar, Rajasthan) [3].
• 08-08-2025: Kopra Jalashay, Chhattisgarh's first site [3].
• 04-12-2025: Patna Bird Sanctuary, listed under UP (not Bihar) [3].
• 19-01-2026: Shekha Jheel (99th) and Jai Prakash Narayan Bird Sanctuary (UP) [2][3].
• 20-07-2026: Lok Sabha told the tally is 100, with four proposals pending [3].
• 15-10-2026: Sukhna and Sauj Jheel take the tally to 103 [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• India's Ramsar tally reached 103 on 15 Oct 2026 [1].
• Sukhna Wetland is Chandigarh's first Ramsar site, adding a UT to the list [1][3].
• Sauj Jheel takes Uttar Pradesh to 14 sites [1][3].
• Tamil Nadu has the most Ramsar sites, with 20 [3].
• India's first Ramsar sites were Chilika and Keoladeo, both designated on 1 Oct 1981 [3].
• The Convention was signed at Ramsar, Iran, in 1971 and entered into force in Dec 1975 [6].
• The depositary of the Ramsar Convention is UNESCO [6].
• The Montreux Record came out of COP4 (Montreux, 1990) and lists sites with adverse ecological change [7][8].
• A site needs at least 1 of 9 criteria. Criterion 5 is 20,000 or more waterbirds; Criterion 6 is 1% of a waterbird population [3].
• The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 are framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 [9].
• Amrit Dharohar was launched in June 2023 (Budget 2023-24). It has 4 components and runs for 3 years [5].
• 25 Ramsar sites were designated during 2023–26 (up to Jul 2026) [3].
• Kopra Jalashay (Aug 2025) is Chhattisgarh's first Ramsar site [3].
• Shekha Jheel (Aligarh area, UP) was India's 99th Ramsar site [2].

8. Getting Listed Is Quick, Getting Fixed Takes Decades

• Once a Ramsar site is damaged, repairing it is slow
• Being listed is a single event. A site leaves the Montreux Record (the Ramsar list of damaged sites) only after it has been repaired.
• Chilika was added to the Montreux Record in 1993 because of siltation (mud and sand filling the lake). It was removed only in 2002, after rehabilitation work [13].
• Keoladeo has been on the Record since 1990 because of water shortage and grazing. A 2023 Ramsar Standing Committee report says it has improved, but India was still only assessing whether to ask for removal [11].

• Loktak has been on the Record since June 1993 [12]. I found no record that it has been removed.

• The causes of damage often lie outside the site boundary

• Loktak was listed because of deforestation in its catchment (the land around it whose rain drains into the lake), water hyacinth and pollution [12].
• Keoladeo's problem is water shortage, so the cure depends on how much water reaches it from outside the park [11].

• A Ramsar listing covers only the wetland itself. The forests, farms and towns that decide its health are not covered.

• Why this matters for the new sites

• India added 25 sites in 2023–26, against 75 in the four decades before [3].
• Three of India's oldest sites still show that undoing damage takes 9 to 30-plus years. The number of sites is easy to measure. Whether the sites stay healthy is the real test.

9. A Ramsar Tag Is Not Yet a Legal Shield

• The 2017 Rules do not protect a site automatically
• The Wetlands Rules, 2017 apply to Ramsar sites [14].
• But MoEFCC's 2020 guidelines say every Ramsar site must also be notified (formally declared in law) through a separate step-by-step process [14].

• Until a site is notified, its exact boundary and the list of banned or regulated activities are not fixed. So the bans in the Rules are hard to enforce on the ground.

• The same state proposes the site and also enforces the rules

• Under the Rules, each State/UT Wetlands Authority is the main regulator, and the state's environment minister chairs it [14].
• The state also identifies and proposes Ramsar sites [3]. So one government both asks for the international tag and polices itself afterwards.

• The Ramsar Convention has no penalties [9]. If a state lets a site decline, the only result is a place on the Montreux Record, which is a list, not a punishment.

• The Rules ask for a plan, not just a boundary

• The 2020 guidelines say each notified wetland should be managed through an Integrated Management Plan (IMP), a single plan covering water, land use, pollution and livelihoods [14].
• The note's sources give no IMP status for Sukhna or Sauj Jheel. That is the first thing to check for any new site.

10. The List Has Grown Faster Than the Money

• Central funding reached fewer than half the sites
• Under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA), MoEFCC had funded 165 wetlands by March 2023. Only 42 of them were Ramsar sites [15].
• India had 75 Ramsar sites at about that time [15]. The count is now 103 [1].

• NPCA money is released only when the state sends an Integrated Management Plan [15]. A state with no plan gets no money, even for a listed site.

• Amrit Dharohar's time period has run out

• Amrit Dharohar was launched in June 2023 to run for three years [5]. By its own timeline, that period ended around mid-2026.
• Sukhna and Sauj Jheel arrived in October 2026 [1]. The sources I checked do not say whether the scheme has been extended or replaced. Aspirants should check the next Budget or PIB release.

11. Does Faster Listing Help or Hurt? Both Sides

• The case for listing quickly
• Listing puts a site under the 2017 Rules [14], and the government promotes it as a nature-tourism destination [1].
• It also brings in global reporting. Under the Convention, a country must inform the Ramsar Secretariat if a site's ecological character changes (Article 3.2) [6].

• Chilika shows this can work. Global attention through the Montreux Record came before its recovery and its removal from the list in 2002 [13].

• The case against

• More sites with the same funding means less money for each site (see the NPCA figures above) [15].

• Tourism promoted at the time of listing [1] can add pressure on a wetland before any IMP is in place.

• A fair conclusion

• Listing is a useful first step, and the objection does not prove it is harmful.
• But the objection is right that listing alone proves little. A site's value depends on notification, an IMP and steady funding that come after the listing.

12. What Should Follow, and Who Should Do It

• MoEFCC should notify every Ramsar site in law within a fixed time
• Its own 2020 guidelines already require each Ramsar site to be notified under the Rules [14].

• A deadline (for example, within one year of listing) and a public status list would close the gap between the international tag and domestic law.

• The Chandigarh and UP Wetlands Authorities should publish IMPs for Sukhna and Sauj Jheel

• The IMP is the document that NPCA funding depends on [15]. Without it, the new sites cannot draw central money.

• MoEFCC should apply the lesson of the Montreux Record to its oldest sites

• For Keoladeo, the 2023 Ramsar report already records improvement [11]. Finishing the removal assessment would show that India's repair work succeeds.

• For Loktak, the problem lies in the catchment [12]. So the plan must include forest and land-use departments, not only the wetland authority.

• Measure health, not just numbers

• Alongside the site count, MoEFCC could report how many sites are notified, how many have IMPs and how many are funded. These are the figures that show whether the 103 sites are actually being protected.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: 25 Ramsar sites listed in 2023–26, against 75 in the four decades before, which shows how fast listing has grown [3]
• Data: NPCA had funded 165 wetlands by March 2023, but only 42 of them were Ramsar sites [15]
• Data: Loktak has been on the Montreux Record since 1993; Chilika took 1993–2002 to get off it [12][13]
• Report/Committee: Ramsar Standing Committee report (2023): Keoladeo has improved and India is assessing its removal from the Montreux Record [11]
• Law/Case: Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 under the EP Act, 1986, plus MoEFCC's 2020 implementation guidelines (notification and IMP) [14]; Article 3.2 of the Ramsar Convention (duty to report change in ecological character) [6]
• Scheme: NPCA (central money tied to Integrated Management Plans) [15]; Amrit Dharohar (June 2023, three-year run) [5]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, EIA. Also Biodiversity.
• GS-II: International treaties and agreements; federal functioning (Centre–State role in designation).
• GS-I: Geography, covering water bodies and the distribution of key natural resources.

Question stems:

1. India's Ramsar network has expanded rapidly since 2022, yet designation alone does not guarantee conservation. Critically examine. (250 words)
2. Discuss the role of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 in fulfilling India's obligations under the Ramsar Convention. What gaps remain?
3. Urban wetlands are critical for water and climate security of Indian cities. Discuss with examples, and suggest a governance framework for their conservation.

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• Montreux Record (Keoladeo, Loktak): the Ramsar mechanism for degraded sites.
• National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA): the central scheme that funds wetland and lake conservation.
• Wetlands Rules, 2017 and Wetland Authorities: the domestic legal framework.
• Central Asian Flyway and CMS (Bonn Convention): the reason so many bird sanctuaries qualify.
• Mission Sahbhagita / Save Wetlands Campaign: citizen-led wetland initiatives.
• World Wetlands Day (2 Feb): the annual hook for new designations.
• MISHTI and mangrove conservation: links coastal wetlands to blue carbon.
• Ramsar COP15: the latest global commitments.

16. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Ramsar Convention (Geography): The whole note is about Ramsar designation: the treaty, its nine criteria and India's growing tally.
• Montreux Record (Geography): Register of damaged Ramsar sites; the note uses Keoladeo, Loktak and Chilika to show repair is slow.
• Wetland (Geography): Defines the ecosystem being listed, which Sukhna and Sauj Jheel are examples of.
• Environment Protection Act 1986 (Geography): The 2017 Wetlands Rules are framed under this Act, so it is India's domestic legal basis.
• Convention on Migratory Species (Geography): Explains the Central Asian Flyway, the reason many inland bird sanctuaries qualify as Ramsar sites.
• Union territory (Polity): Sukhna makes Chandigarh a new Union Territory on India's Ramsar list.

17. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Ramsar ≠ UNEP or UN treaty secretariat: UNESCO is only the depositary. The Convention is independent of the UN system.
• Wetland Rules are under the EP Act, 1986, not the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 [9].
• Shekha Jheel ≠ Sauj Jheel. Both are in UP; Shekha was the 99th site (Jan 2026) and Sauj was added in Oct 2026 [1][2].
• Patna Bird Sanctuary is in UP, not Bihar [3].
• The first sites were Chilika and Keoladeo (1981), not Wular or Loktak (1990) [3].
• Counting: the tally went from 100 to 103, which is three sites, but the 15 Oct release names only two [1][3]. Don't assume the third.