Wetlands in Delhi and Haryana, home to hundreds of species of birds, face serious threats from pollution and encroachment; official recognition could be an important step towards conservation. The Najafgarh wetland in New Delhi and the Basai wetland in Haryana are important destinations within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF), one of the major migration routes for birds flying from Central Asia, Europe, Tibet, China and Russia to the Indian subcontinent during the winter. In fact, India – where wetlands (other than rivers) occupy about 10 million hectares – provides critical stopover sites to over 90% of the bird species known to use CAF migratory routes. Crucial to bird migration, India’s wetlands are under threat
