New Delhi, Jun 7 (IANS): India is aiming at getting a Ramsar tag for 75 of its wetlands on the 75th year of independence, top officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) said on Tuesday.

India already has 49 Ramsar Sites -- wetlands of international importance -- and now, is pushing for 26 more. "Nominations for 23 have already been sent while three more are in the pipeline," said the officials.

These wetlands of international importance are called Ramsar Sites in commemoration of the Convention on Wetlands that took place in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar.

"Union Environment Minister, Bhupender Yadav is slated to visit Geneva in near future, where he would be meeting the Ramsar Director personally to pursue the matter," officials added.

The 26 wetlands that await the Ramsar tag include Pala wetland (Mizoram); Satkosia Gorge, Tampara Lake, Hirakud Reservoir & Ansupa Lake (Odisha); Sirpur wetland, Sakhya Sagar & Yashwant Sagar (Madhya Pradesh), Thane Creek (Maharashtra); Hygam Wetland Conservation Reserve & Shallbugh Wetland Conservation Reserve (Jammu & Kashmir); Ranganathituu Bird Sanctuary (Karnataka), and Nanda Lake (Goa).

Tamil Nadu has lined up the maximum: Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary, Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary, Suchindram Theroor Wetland Complex, Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary, Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary, Vellode Bird Sanctuary, Vembannur Wetland Complex, Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary, Pichavaram Mangrove, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary, Karikili Bird Sanctuary & Pallikaranai Marsh.