Transformation of Urban Wetlands As An Effect of Urban Development: An Analysis of Deepor Beel in Guwahati, Assam

Abstract

Deepor Beel is a Ramsar Site and a wetland of great biodiversity, which is situated towards the South-western part of Guwahati. The Rani and Garbhanga Reserved Forests are adjacent to the wetland, which altogether stands as a complete ecosystem providing environmental solutions, food security and different types of biodiversity to the city. The forest serves as an abode to the Northeastern region’s Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus), which is an endangered species. But with various recent urban developments, the wetland and the whole ecosystem has been under threat of diminishing area of the wetland, extinction of biodiversity, as well as transformation of land use pattern of the entire area and its surroundings. The Indian Railways constructed the southern railway track in 2001, an action which gradually divided the Deepor Beel into segments and, thus, affected the wetland in particular and the ecosystem as a whole. Illegal settlements, setting up of factories, construction of highways, etc. have also hampered the wetland in many ways while also posing a threat to the urban areas. This paper shall analyse the various developments affecting the wetland and shall ind strategies to regulate further developments around the wetland.