new delhi, Feb. 3 -- The government is planning to get the 5.16 hectare Neeli Jheel at Asola Bhatti wildlife sanctuary notified as Delhi's first Ramsar site, environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Monday, adding that the ministry is in talks with the Centre on the matter. Sirsa said the government is also in the process of identifying and protecting over 1,000 water bodies in the Capital. "It is a matter of pride for Delhi that the Neeli Jheel, present inside the Asola wildlife sanctuary is being looked at as a possible Ramsar site," Sirsa said at a World Wetlands Day event at the sanctuary, where Union environment minister Kirti Vardhan Singh was also present. A Ramsar site is categorised as a wetland of "international importance" under the Ramsar Convention's list, which is an environmental treaty signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran. The basis on which a wetland is considered to be Ramsar site are biodiversity conservation, ecological balance, and providing critical habitats, particularly for migratory waterbirds. India, one of the parties to the Ramsar Convention, has added 98 sites to the list since 1982. Sirsa said that a detailed proposal will soon be submitted to the Union environment ministry. HTC...