CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered the Tamil Nadu government to carry out mapping of wetlands in all districts of the state from June this year on the lines of the exercise carried out in Tiruvallur district. The court has also directed the state to submit reports on the progress of the exercise periodically to the court in order to preserve these natural resources.
The first bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad passed the order on Friday while hearing a suo motu case on conservation of wetlands. “The mapping of wetlands, as done in Tiruvallur district, must be undertaken. This process in all the districts has to be undertaken expeditiously and it shall commence by June 2024,” the bench said. The court said the mapping of wetlands in other districts must be carried out on the lines of the pilot project implemented in Tiruvallur.
The HC had, on August 26, 2022, ordered the state to complete the mapping of wetlands in Tiruvallur based on the mapping done by amicus curiae T Mohan with the help of a technical team and do physical verification of the wetlands to compare them with 2011 data.
Court took up suo motu case in 2017
The court had also directed conducting the mapping initially and then to hold physical verification of the wetlands and to seek objections before bringing the maps in the public domain. If there are no objections, the wetlands are to be notified under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules of 2017.
The court had given six months for completion of entire process of mapping, physical verification but the state had not done them. The CJ pointed out that the exercise of physical verification of wetland in Tiruvallur has not yet commenced even after one and a half year.
The HC took up the suo motu case in 2017 based on the order passed by the SC on April 3, 2017, in a case seeking specific steps for preservation of the wetlands in the state covered by the Ramsar Convention of 1971. The court had also impleaded 32 district collectors to ensure effective implementation of orders on preservation of wetlands.