Shrinking Water Area in the Wetlands of the Central Valley of Manipur

Abstract

"A key to future sustenance of human societies lies in the sustainable management and wise use of wetlands. Human lives are invariably intertwined with these ecosystems. More than three quarters of the food required for mankind is still being derived directly from wetlands in the form of rice and fish alone. But they are threatened both from natural and from anthropogenic forces. These wetlands have been altered for other usages. In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine the open water area in the two bigger lakes i.e. Loktak and Pumlen of the Central Valley of Manipur. The study is based on remotely sensed data of 1989, 1999 and 2002. To understand the different uses of the lake by the local people, village and household surveys were conducted. The total sample size consisted of 10 villages and 401 households. The results showed that the open water area in both the lakes have shrunk, from 1989 to 2002 almost 50 percent. It was the human pressure that has affected the open water area of the lakes."