Developing strategies to rejuvenate the degraded ponds through integration with ces assesment: a case of Jabalpur city

Abstract

It is deceptive to overlook small bodies of water as unimportant and meaningless because we all know that small things matter most in our lives. Everyday observations and studies have shown that more and more water sources especially the small water bodies are disappearing from urban and rural landscapes as a consequence of uncontrolled urbanization leading to their encroachment on construction activities; sewage disposal, industrial wastewater, and construction debris; and a change from community-based water use system to person groundwater-dependent system, and so on. Among all water bodies, the major risk of depletion is for ponds and small lakes. WHAT IS POND? The word 'pond' comes from the word 'pound,' which means a small enclosure. Different trusts and conventions have different meanings of ponds. Also, this analysis takes into account the ponds following the International Ramsar Wetlands Convention – The water body's upper limit should be 8 hectares to be known as a pond. The ponds are culturally and historically significant because their sediment records may reveal information about our forefathers' lifestyles. They are important for the protection and promotion of human-wildlife relationships. The ponds are also extremely valuable for recreation. Every pond can provide multiple ecosystem service benefits at once, but its actual output is defined by its physical characteristics, as well as the size, quality, and timing of water flow. This study focuses only on cultural ecosystem services of the ponds as CES are usually included under non-consumptive direct use values and suffer from inadequate quantification and inclusion in management plans. As a result of cultural services falling outside of the market's sphere of influence, they are invisible in conventional economic research. Cultural services have often been recognized as important, but they are often described as "unquantifiable." Ponds are one of the most threatened ecosystems. In India, we have lost more than half or more of our ponds. Indian ponds are not considered a priority habitat, even though they are a fragile ecosystem. Since they are considered a small system, ponds with many ecological benefits may lose their identity due to a lack of study. Despite its many ecological benefits, the pond has lost its identity. In several places, the ponds were the city's landmarks, and they were only known for them. Jabalpur city is one of the examples. It was once known as the “City Of Taals” but now only has 36 taals and tallaiyas (ponds and lakes), the majority of which are degraded. Jabalpur is a city with a vibrant culture and a rich heritage and the ponds have a high cultural value here since ancient times; they serve as a lively gathering place all over the place, and the presence of temples around them, as well as the relation of these ponds with mythological tales, give them various cultural values. However, in recent years, this interaction or connection with the ponds of the local people has been seen to be fading due to pollution, degradation, or a lack of importance or need for these ponds. The aim of this research is - Developing strategies to rejuvenate the degraded ponds through integration with CES assessment. This aim will be accomplished by surveying CES-producing ponds and examining the interrelationships between the causes of pond degradation and CES. Quantifying the pond's ecosystem services would help in increasing awareness of the main services, which will aid in the development of interventions and strategies. The plans will be long-term and focused on the rejuvenation of the pond's cultural services.