Srinagar: The High Court on Tuesday granted the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India (GoI), a month’s time to file response in a public interest litigation (PIL) regarding appropriate maintenance of the wetlands under the Ramsar Convention.
Hearing the suo moto PIL, Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sindhu Sharma granted the time at the submission of the Additional Solicitor General of India (ASGI).
The PIL was registered at the directions of the apex court in April 2017. The directions called for treating an affidavit by M K Balakrishnan (petitioner) regarding certain wetlands in India which were covered under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
The Supreme Court had asked the concerned high courts to ensure that the Ramsar Convention sites within their jurisdiction are properly maintained.
The J&K administration citing the Atlas prepared by its Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing Department had informed the court that 1230 wetlands were identified as covered under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. These included the wetlands covered under the international convention.
The court in 2018 had observed that an authority ought to be created by the Central government for the purpose.
“Given the overlap in the rules regarding constitution of the Authority between the Central and State governments, manifests that the Union of India through the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change is a proper and necessary party for complete and effective adjudication of the issues raised in this petition,” the court had said.
It had subsequently impleaded the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, GoI as party in the matter. Today it granted a month’s time for filing of the response on behalf of the Secretary at the request of the ASGI.
