Context:

• Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan is shrinking with degradation of soil and water quality.

Why it is a cause of concern?

• Decline in the population of migratory birds.
• Needs a faster restoration for conservation of its wetland and salt brine worth $300 million.
• Lake’s ecology has deteriorated.

What all is leading to this?

• ‘Mining menace’: 30% of the Sambhar Lake’s area had been lost to mining and other activities, including the illegal salt pan encroachments. It has also threatened the livelihoods of local people who have always lived in harmony with the lake and its ecology.

About Sambhar Lake:

• It is the country’s largest inland saline water body, which attracts thousands of migratory birds every year.
• The death of more than 20,000 birds due to avian botulism, which migrate annually to the lake had made international headlines in 2019.
• The lake receives water from six rivers: Mantha, Rupangarh, Khari, Khandela, Medtha and Samod.
• Sambhar has been designated as a Ramsar site (recognized wetland of international importance) because the wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of pink flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia and Siberia.

Why there is need to conserve wetland?

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/sambhar-lake-needs-faster-restoration-says-expert-study/article36129890.ece

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