CDS (II) 2024 General Knowledge · Question 75 of 120

Correct — B, Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary. It is in Tamil Nadu, at the south-eastern tip of Nagapattinam district, and Tamil Nadu is a State — so this is the one site in the list that does not sit in a Union Territory. The sanctuary was notified in 1967 to protect the blackbuck, covers about 21 sq km, and was designated under the Ramsar Convention on 19 August 2002; its salt swamps and mudflats draw large flocks of greater flamingo in winter. The other three all lie in territory that ceased to be a State on 31 October 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into two Union Territories. Hokera and Wular are in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, on the floor of the Kashmir valley, and Tsomoriri is a high-altitude brackish lake in the Union Territory of Ladakh at about 4,500 metres. The question is really a test of whether you have kept up with that reorganisation.

• (a)Hokera Wetland — A reed marsh on the outskirts of Srinagar, in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. UPSC once used the same site with a Punjab label as a wrong pair.
• (c)Tsomoriri Lake — A high-altitude brackish lake in the Changthang plateau of Ladakh, a Union Territory since 2019, and a breeding ground of the bar-headed goose and the black-necked crane.
• (d)Wular Lake — One of Asia's largest freshwater lakes, fed by the Jhelum, and lying in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in Bandipora district.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed at Ramsar in Iran on 2 February 1971, which is why that date is World Wetlands Day. India acceded in 1982, its first two sites being Chilika in Odisha and Keoladeo in Rajasthan, both designated on 1 October 1981. The list has grown quickly since 2019 and India now has more sites than any other country in Asia. Designation does not create a new legal category under Indian law; the site is still protected as a sanctuary, national park or wetland under domestic rules, and Ramsar status adds an international commitment to maintain its ecological character.

The item works only because of an administrative change, not because of anything ecological. Before 31 October 2019 all four of these sites were in the State of Jammu and Kashmir or in Tamil Nadu, and three of the four options would have been States. After the reorganisation, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are Union Territories, which leaves Point Calimere alone in a State. Keep the current position in mind for any question phrased this way: as of now both remain Union Territories, and the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir has been promised but not carried out. India's Ramsar list stood at more than eighty sites around the time of this exam and at ninety-three on the environment ministry's own list of September 2025, so any question that quotes a total needs its date checked.

• Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary is in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu; it was created in 1967 for the blackbuck and designated a Ramsar site on 19 August 2002.
• Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been Union Territories since 31 October 2019.
• Hokera Wetland and Wular Lake lie in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir; Tsomoriri is in Ladakh.
• The Ramsar Convention was signed on 2 February 1971 at Ramsar, Iran; India became a party in 1982.
• India's first Ramsar sites were Chilika Lake in Odisha and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, both designated on 1 October 1981.

• Answering from a pre-2019 mental map, on which Jammu and Kashmir was a State.
• Assuming Ramsar designation gives a site a new legal status in Indian law; the domestic protection is what governs.
• Confusing Point Calimere with Pulicat or Vedanthangal, the other well-known Tamil Nadu bird sites.

As an odd-one-out on the location of Ramsar sites, or as a pairs item matching wetlands to their State or Union Territory.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which two wetlands were India's first Ramsar sites, designated in 1981?

  • (a)Chilika Lake and Keoladeo National Park
  • (b)Wular Lake and Loktak Lake
  • (c)Harike and Sambhar
  • (d)Kolleru and Pulicat

  Answer(a) Chilika Lake and Keoladeo National Park — both designated on 1 October 1981, before India formally became a party in 1982.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Tsomoriri, a high-altitude brackish lake on the Changthang plateau, lies in which of the following?

  • (a)Ladakh
  • (b)Himachal Pradesh
  • (c)Sikkim
  • (d)Uttarakhand

  Answer(a) Ladakh — a Union Territory since 31 October 2019, and a breeding site for the bar-headed goose and the black-necked crane.