CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has constituted the State Wetland Authority under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to aid and advise as well as to formulate policies for the protection and preservation of wetlands in the State, the first bench of the Madras High Court was informed on Monday.The Authority is in the process of preparation of a brief document on 37 prioritised wet lands and the process is long-drawn as it involves collection and collation of data on a wide range of parameters of the identified wet lands, a status report filed by the State government before the bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice A Selvam said.
Originally, the Bench headed by the Chief Justice in June last year initiated suo motu proceedings on the basis of a direction of the Supreme Court on April 3, 2017 on the issue relating to maintenance of Ramsar Convention sites (a wetland considered to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, 1971, an inter-governmental environmental treaty established by UNSECO).The apex court, in its order, had said that as far as the Ramsar Convention sites were concerned, it might be more appropriate if the High Courts concerned monitored the management of these sites at least till there was some visible improvement.
The status report added that the State had also formed a Conservation Authority of Pallikaranai Marshland complex in the city. As of now, Point Calimere Wildlife and Birds Sanctuary is the only waterbody in the State covered by the Ramsar Convention, 1971. Specific steps to preserve the said wet land, as enumerated by the Supreme Court by its April 3 order are being taken.Steps are also being taken to bring Panchanadikulam wet land, measuring 8,097 hectares and the unsurveyed salt swamp measuring 15.120 hectares located between Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary and Muthupet Mangroves, under the umbrella of the 1971 Ramsar Convention.
The bench posted the suo-motu PIL to July 2 for submission of a further status report on the action taken in respect of other waterbodies and in particular, the Panchanadikulam wet land, which is proposed to be brought under the Ramsar Convention.