Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
19
Living with Wetlands: A Case Study
from the Wetlands (
Beels
)
of Barpeta District, Assam
Prakash Sarma and Kiranmay Sarma
Abstract
This study was conducted in the wetlands of Barpeta District, Assam, to
assess the chemical, biological parameters and biodiversity. Detailed
chemical parameters, biological parameters of this wetlands and availabil-
ity of biodiversity resources have been presented and conservation mea-
sures are discussed in this chapter.
Keywords
Wetland Floodplain Livelihood Fishery Assam
Introduction
resource to meet people's requirements has been
practiced since the pre-Vedic era (Dholakia
2004
). Until recently, the special role played by
fi sh and other aquatic resources as essential com-
ponent of poor people's livelihoods has been
almost ignored (Ramakrishna
2008
). Fishery is
one of the high-priority sectors of Indian econ-
omy. In the rural economy of Assam, the impor-
tance of fi shery is next to agriculture (Baruah
1999
). The sector contributes about 2.4 % of the
state's net domestic product and provides
employment to about 4.75 lakh persons. Although
over 95 % of the population consumes fi sh, the
state produces less than 50 % of her total require-
ment and as such the per capita consumption rate
is less than 1.9 kg as to the national average of
5.0 kg. Assam produces about 53,000 tons of fi sh
annually and 14 % of it comes from culture fi shery;
40 % from wetlands (locally known as
beels
) and
46 % from the riverine resources (Statistical
Hand Book of Assam
2001
).
Wetlands of fl oodplain provide valuable ecosys-
tem services to society all over the world. From
the time immemorial, there has been symbiotic
association of man and aquatic ecosystem. The
fi rst sign of civilization is traced to wetland areas
(Selvamani and Mahadevan
2008
). The fl ood-
plains of the Indus, the Nile delta and the fertile
crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are the
footprint of modern civilizations. In India most
of the natural wetlands are connected with the
river system, and the management of this natural
Search WWH ::
Custom Search