As per a notification issued recently by the Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change of Rajasthan, how many wet-lands are there in the State ?

Correct — option (2), 44.

The stem's wording is "Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change". The gazette notifications behind the figure are headed "Department of Environment and Climate Change", and each declares a wetland under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.

Before the exam, 44 such final notifications were printed in the Rajasthan Gazette Extraordinary, one per wetland or wetland complex: 43 in the issue of 31 August 2023, and one, Rewasa, which the notification places in Sikar district, in the issue of 6 September 2023.

The Rajasthan State Wetland Authority's "Final Wetland Notification" page now lists 76 entries. The notifications for the other 32 are dated February and March 2024, after the exam.

Each of the 44 records the same steps. A draft was published in the Gazette on 19 or 24 April 2023, inviting objections for sixty days. No objections or suggestions were received, and the State Government then notified the site under rule 7 of the 2017 Rules, read with the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

The idea to remember: 44 is the number of wetlands Rajasthan notified under the 2017 Rules in 2023, not a count of every lake or pond in the State.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  50 — 50 is more than the number of final notifications printed before the exam. The gazette notifications of 31 August and 6 September 2023 number 44, one per wetland or complex.

  Each of those 44 records a draft notification in April 2023 and a sixty-day window for objections before the final notification.

• (3)
  38 — 38 falls short of the 44 final notifications printed in the Rajasthan Gazette in August–September 2023.

  By the districts the notifications name, Baran accounts for 12 of the 44, including Eklera Sagar, Garda and Hinglot, and Tonk for 6, including Bisalpur and Tordi Sagar.

• (4)
  30 — 30 is well below the 44 wetlands notified in 2023.

  It is also not the number of Ramsar sites in Rajasthan, a separate, international list. On the exam date the State had two: Keoladeo National Park, designated in 1981, and Sambhar Lake, designated in 1990.

The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 were issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (G.S.R. 1203(E), 26 September 2017). Under rule 7, a Brief Document is prepared for each wetland identified for notification, and the State Wetlands Authority recommends notification.

The State Government then notifies the wetland in the Official Gazette after considering objections, if any, within 240 days of the recommendation.

Each Rajasthan notification has three schedules: the wetland's boundary and zone of influence, the activities prohibited there, and the activities allowed only with State Government permission.

Requests for a regulated activity go to the District Environment Committee headed by the District Collector, and the State Wetland Authority monitors enforcement.

Key facts

• Rajasthan's 44 final wetland notifications appeared in the Rajasthan Gazette Extraordinary on 31 August 2023 (43) and 6 September 2023 (1).
• Each followed a draft notification of 19 or 24 April 2023 that allowed sixty days for objections; none were received.
• The 44 include Kaylana and Surpura (Jodhpur), Bisalpur (Tonk) and the Brahm Talab and Dhand Talab complex at Menar (Udaipur), districts as the notifications name them.
• Rajasthan's Environment Department constituted a State Wetlands Authority by an order dated 10 April 2018, under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
• On the exam date Rajasthan's Ramsar sites were Keoladeo National Park (1981) and Sambhar Lake (1990); PIB on 2 August 2023 put India's total at 75.

Common traps

• Confusing wetlands notified by the State under the 2017 Rules with Ramsar sites. On the exam date Rajasthan had 44 of the first and 2 of the second.
• Reading 44 as the number of all water bodies in Rajasthan. It counts wetlands that completed the draft, objection and final-notification steps.
• Carrying later additions back to 2023. PIB reported on 4 June 2025 that Menar and Khichan had been added to the Ramsar list, and 32 more State wetland notifications are dated 2024, all after the exam.

UnlockIAS compared this question with questions from other RAS Prelims papers and found none similar enough to link.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under which of the following did the Government of Rajasthan notify wetlands such as Kaylana (Jodhpur) and Bisalpur (Tonk) in 2023?

  • (a)Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010
  • (b)Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017
  • (c)Biological Diversity Rules, 2004
  • (d)Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006
  Answer(2) — Each 2023 notification cites rule 7 of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, read with the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Option (1) is the earlier set of rules that the 2017 Rules replaced; options (3) and (4) are not the instruments the notifications cite.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following was a Ramsar site in Rajasthan on 1 October 2023?

  • (a)Menar Wetland Complex
  • (b)Kaylana Lake
  • (c)Sambhar Lake
  • (d)Khichan Wetland
  Answer(3) — Sambhar Lake was designated a Ramsar site in 1990. Options (1) and (4) were added to the Ramsar list only in 2025; option (2) was notified by the State as a wetland in 2023 but was not a Ramsar site on that date.