Current status of Pallikaranai wetland: A review

Wetlands provide innumerable valuable services to the society at large such as recharging ground water, recycling nutrients, attenuating floods and as natural habitat supporting various species biodiversity. Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization the only available rain water harvesting wetland of Chennai city, the Pallikaranai marsh land which has been designated as a reserve forest area has been reduced to one-tenth of its original extent due to anthropogenic pressures. The presence of a major dumpyard and sewage treatment plant operated in the ecologically sensitive areas of Pallikaranai marsh pose a great threat to the biodiversity population of the wetland. Hence, the status of information produced in this study from published results will provide a pre-requisite baseline data on Pallikaranai marsh land and Perungudi solid waste facility.