In February 2013, considering the commonalities in conservation and management
approaches adopted for lakes and wetlands, the two schemes of National Wetland
Conservation Programme (NWCP) and National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) were
merged into a unified scheme called ‘National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic
Ecosystems’ (NPCA) to enable application of uniform policy & guidelines and promoting
application of integrated & multi-disciplinary approach with a common regulatory
framework. NPCA envisages conservation of lakes and wetlands in the country by
promoting a cross sectoral planning and decision making perspective. Integrated
management, funds convergence, cross sectoral governance, complementing regulation
and mission mode implementation form the core strategies of the revised programme.
The overall budgetary allocation for wetland & lake conservation has also increased.