NOIDA: Dhanauri in Greater Noida is home to nearly 217 bird species, including the sarus crane, UP’s state bird. It also fulfils at least two criteria in order to be declared a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Officially, however, it is not a wetland. In 2017, Supreme Court (in MK Balakrishnan Vs Union of India and others) directed that all 2,01,503 wetlands mapped by the Union of India be protected in accordance with Rule 4 of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. In March 2024, Isro conducted a survey and updated this figure to 2,31,195. The court emphasised that activities prohibited in Rule 4 – such as reclamation, conversion for non-wetland use, and any action that could disturb their ecological character – were not allowed. SC ordered the Centre to finalise and notify updated Wetlands Rules by a fixed deadline, expressing concern about delay in rule notification and lack of audited spending on conservation funds. The responsibility for wetland management was earlier vested with the Union ministry. In 2017, new rules kicked in, delegating this to states. According to the ministry, the process of declaring any wetland a Ramsar site involves a five-step process. This will begin with the UP govt conducting a feasibility assessment and declaring intent for designation. In the case of Dhanauri, instead of the state govt, it was Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change that took the first step. On June 5, 2019 – World Environment Day – the ministry wrote to the state to submit a proposal to declare Dhanauri a large wetland and a sarus crane sanctuary so that the process of obtaining the Ramsar tag could be initiated by the Centre. This has still not happened. After years of demanding a Ramsar tag for the thriving bird habitat, environmentalists approached the National Green Tribunal in 2023, following which the latter sent a series of directives. Yet, UP has not notified Dhanauri as a wetland, and the application for obtaining the Ramsar tag is lost in a bureaucratic labyrinth. State forest officials have time and again come up with replies, explanations and promises before NGT, but the position seems to not have shifted in any direction. Appearing for the state before the principal bench of the tribunal during the first hearing, following a petition by environmentalist Anand Arya in Oct 2023, the counsel said the proposal for notification was submitted to the Wetland Authority on Aug 4, 2022. UP’s counsel, appearing in the same case on Sept 2025, sought an adjournment again to obtain instruction on whether the state was ready to send a proposal to declare Dhanauri a Ramsar site to the ministry, and whether Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) had any objections. NGT had already asked YEIDA about its position. Four months previously, on May 2025, the counsel appearing for the authority submitted that all possible action would be taken and the report would be filed within three weeks. Petitioner Arya said bureaucrats would prefer that Dhanauri be a wasteland and not a wetland. “Once they declare it a wetland, the area has to be preserved and the species must be conserved. But if they leave it to turn into a wasteland, they can gradually expand the real estate industry, which will give monetary returns,” he said. Arya pointed out that while the battle to designate Dhanauri a wetland had been going on for years, the proposal for Noida International Airport in Jewar got clearance in no time. The project received “in-principle” approval from the Centre on May 8, 2018 and got environmental clearance on March 9, 2020 . “I raised my voice during the environment impact assessment (EIA) carried out for the project, after which the responsibility for a conservation plan was given to Wildlife Institute of India,” he said. A conservation plan has been prepared specifically for the sarus crane and peacocks, significant species in the project area. The plan underlines the preservation of water bodies to support wildlife habitats, besides initiatives to raise public awareness about the importance of the birds. The EIA carries a special condition – that the Dhanauri conservation plan should be implemented in letter and spirit before airport operations begin.What is Ramsar tagThe Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands that came into force in 1975. Designating wetlands as Ramsar sites supports global biodiversity conservation efforts. These sites are valuable for both national and global communities. Umesh, a resident of Thasrana village in the core of the Dhanauri wetland, says the scope for earning a living is limited in the area. “Most of it is private land, and people cannot practice farming because of perennial waterlogging,” he said. Umesh has little idea about the Ramsar tag but believes conservation is important because hundreds of bird species thrive there. “If there are conservation plans and the area is developed into a proper tourist spot, it may offer some employment opportunities to the locals, ” he says.
