Sanjaya Singh knew that most bureaucratic decisions last only until a transfer order is issued, or a new official takes charge. So, when it came to the conservation of Uttar Pradesh’s 1.24 million hectares of wetlands, Singh – then principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden – led with an idea not entirely watertight, but that would be difficult to undo: incorporating 133,484 wetlands, across state’s 100,000 villages, in the land records – a massive exercise completed in July 2016.
