| Consider the following statements with reference to the wetlands of India. |
| 1. The country's total geographical area under the category of wetlands is recorded more in Gujarat as compared to other states. |
| 2. In India, the total geographical area of coastal wetlands larger than that of wetlands. |
| Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? |
A) Only 1
B) Only 2
C) Both 1 and 2
D) Neither 1nor2
Correct Answer: B
Solution :
[b] India has a wealth of wetland ecosystems distributed in different geographical regions. Most of the wetlands in India are directly or indirectly linked with major river systems such as the Ganges, Cauvery, Krishna, Godavari and Tapti. India has totally 27403 wetlands, of which 23444 are inland wetlands and 3959 are coastal wetlands. According to the Directory of Asian Wetlands (1989), wetlands occupy 18.4% of the country area (excluding rivers), of which 70% are under paddy cultivation. In India, out of an estimated 4.1mha (excluding irrigated agricultural lands, rivers and treams) of wetlands, 1.5mha are natural, while 2.6mha are man-made. The coastal wetland occupy'an estimated 6750sq km and are largely dominated by mangrove vegetation. About 80% of the mangroves are distributed in the Sunderbans of Wes- Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with the res" in the coastal States of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Statewise distribution of wetlands showed that Lakshadweep has 96.12% of geographic area under wetlands followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands (18.52%), Daman and Diu (18.46%) and Gujarat (17.56% have highest extent of wetlands. Puducherry (12.88%), We5- Bengal (12.48%), Asom (9.74%) are wetland-rich states States like Mizoram, Haryana, Delhi, Sikkim, Nagaland and Meghalaya, the extent of wetland is less than 1.5%.
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