Srinagar August 29: The J&K High Court today directed the government to include all the 1230 wetlands existing in the state for consideration of preservation and sustainable use in addition to the wetlands identified under Ramsar Convention.
Hearing a petition on preservation of wetlands the court directed consideration of the preservation and maintenance of the wetlands which are covered under Ramsar Convention on Wetlands as directed by the Supreme Court of India.
It also directed “other 1230 Wetlands which have been recognized and identified by the Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir”.
It may be mentioned here that J&K has only a few wetlands including, Hokersar, Wular, Mansar and Tso Moriri treated as spots of international heritage under Ramsar Convention on wetlands.
The Supreme Court which is hearing a petition on the grave situation of the wetlands since 2014 has observed that as the Ramsar Convention sites are matters of international heritage, it might be more appropriate if the concerned High Courts monitor the management of these sites at least till there is some visible improvement.
The J&K high Court accordingly treated the matter as a suo moto public interest petition and appointed advocate Nadeem Qadri amicus to assist so that the Ramsar Convention sites within its jurisdiction are properly maintained.
Qadri, citing the Atlas prepared by the Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing of J&K, said “1230 wetlands have been identified as covered under the wetlands (conservation and management) Rules, 2017 (Rules of 2017 hereinafter), which include the wetlands covered under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands”.
These Rules, he said, postulate creation of a regulatory body captioned “The State Wetlands Authority”.
Among other functions of this Authority it has to define strategies for conservation and wise use of wetlands within its jurisdiction, he said.
The court noted that the counsel appearing on behalf of the state government was unable to inform it about the constitution of the Authority or about the status of the compliance with the rules.
The court observed that given the overlap in the rules regarding constitution of the Authority between the Central and State Governments, the Union of India through the secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is a proper and necessary party for complete and effective adjudication of the issues raised in the petition.
It accordingly directed impleadment of the officer as party respondent No. 6 in the matter and issue him a notice.
The court made it clear that the importance of preservation of wetlands and water bodies cannot be underestimated. A regulatory mechanism for all the wetlands should be set up so as to maintain their ecological character and ultimately support their integrated management in the three regions of the State.
