CURRENT AFFAIRS | 27 JUNE 2026
India has crossed a symbolic milestone: as of 5 June 2026, the country now has 100 Ramsar sites — wetlands of international importance — spanning roughly 13.87 lakh hectares. It is a headline worth celebrating, but it conceals an uncomfortable truth. Many of these protected wetlands are degrading fast. For a CLAT aspirant, this story bundles together international environmental treaties, domestic regulation, constitutional duties, and the role of a specialised green court — a rich, high-yield cluster.
What Actually Happened
The 100th-site milestone was reached with recent additions such as the Jai Prakash Narayan Bird Sanctuary & Sheikha Jheel in Uttar Pradesh (added 19 January 2026). Tamil Nadu leads the country with the most Ramsar sites (20). Yet the celebratory number masks a conservation crisis. The brief flags Sambhar Lake — a Ramsar site since March 1990 — which has reportedly lost about 89% of its wetland area to illegal salt pans and groundwater extraction. The lesson: international designation is necessary but not sufficient; on-the-ground “wise use” is what actually protects an ecosystem.
The legal architecture is layered. Internationally, the framework is the Ramsar Convention, 1971 (signed in Ramsar, Iran), whose guiding principle is the “wise use” of wetlands. Sites that face ecological threats can be placed on the Montreux Record — a list flagging wetlands needing urgent attention; India’s entries here are Keoladeo (Rajasthan) and Loktak (Manipur). Domestically, wetlands are governed by the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) repeatedly issuing orders on wetland inventories and encroachment.
Constitutionally, environmental protection rests on Article 48A (a Directive Principle requiring the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife) and Article 51A(g) (a Fundamental Duty of every citizen to protect the natural environment). Statutory support comes from the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. Internationally, the Ramsar Convention, 1971 binds India to the “wise use” principle, while the Montreux Record tracks threatened sites.
High-frequency GK and legal-reasoning territory. Be ready to identify: the year and venue of the Ramsar Convention (1971, Iran); the meaning of the Montreux Record and India’s two listed sites (Keoladeo and Loktak); the difference between a non-justiciable Directive Principle (Art 48A) and a Fundamental Duty (Art 51A(g)); and the NGT’s specialised jurisdiction over environmental disputes. A passage may juxtapose the “100 sites” achievement against Sambhar Lake’s decline to test whether you can reason about the gap between paper protection and real enforcement.
| Milestone | 100 Ramsar sites (as of 5 Jun 2026) |
| Area | ~13.87 lakh hectares |
| Most sites | Tamil Nadu (20) |
| Convention | Ramsar, 1971 (Iran) — “wise use” |
| Montreux Record (India) | Keoladeo + Loktak |
| Crisis example | Sambhar Lake (~89% area lost) |
“Ramsar = Rivers And Marshes Saved (1971, IRan); use them WISEly.” Montreux Record sites for India = “KL” = Keoladeo + Loktak. Constitution duo: “48A State, 51A(g) Citizen.”
Why This Matters for CLAT
Environmental law questions reward students who can connect the international, statutory, and constitutional layers into one coherent picture. The Ramsar milestone is the ideal vehicle: an international treaty (Ramsar, 1971) creates the designation; domestic rules (Wetlands Rules, 2017) and a specialised tribunal (NGT) operationalise protection; and the Constitution supplies the underlying duty through Articles 48A and 51A(g). The Sambhar Lake contrast teaches the deeper exam-relevant theme — the difference between formal designation and effective conservation, between “wise use” on paper and encroachment in practice. When a comprehension passage praises a green achievement while hinting at a hidden failure, the examiner is testing whether you can hold both the celebration and the critique in mind. Master this multi-layer structure and wetlands questions become reliable scoring opportunities.
Consolidate the framework with the 10 questions below.
Practice Quiz — 10 CLAT-Style Questions
Click an option to reveal the answer and explanation.
