Sur Sarovar (Keetham Lake) near Agra was added to the list of Ramsar sites in the year:

Sur Sarovar, also known as Keetham Lake, in the Agra district of Uttar Pradesh, was designated a Ramsar site (wetland of international importance) in November 2020.

About Sur Sarovar:

• It is a man-made reservoir, originally created to supply water to the city of Agra, especially in summer.
• It lies near the Yamuna, along the Agra-Mathura road, about 20 km from Agra.
• It is part of the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, declared in 1991.
• It is named after the 16th-century poet-saint Surdas, a devotee of Lord Krishna, who is believed to have lived in the area.

Biodiversity:

• It hosts more than 165 species of resident and migratory birds, including the greater spotted eagle, sarus crane and Pallas's fish eagle.
• It is also a habitat for many fish species.

Other Ramsar sites declared in 2020:

• Asan Barrage (Uttarakhand), the first Ramsar site of Uttarakhand.
• Kabartal (Kanwar Lake, Bihar), Bihar's first.
• Lonar Lake (Maharashtra).
• Tso Kar (Ladakh).

About the Ramsar Convention:

• It is an international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
• It was signed on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, and came into force in 1975.
• 2 February is observed as World Wetlands Day.
• India joined the convention in 1982.
• India's first Ramsar sites were Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan), both designated in 1981.

India's Ramsar sites:

• India has rapidly increased the number of its Ramsar sites, to more than 90 by 2025, the highest in Asia.
• Tamil Nadu has the largest number of Ramsar sites among the states.
• The Sundarbans (West Bengal) is the largest Ramsar site in India by area.
• The Montreux Record lists Ramsar sites where ecological changes are occurring; Keoladeo National Park and Loktak Lake are on this list from India.

Why not the other options?

• ✗2002, 2012 and 2023 are not the year Sur Sarovar was declared a Ramsar site.