HC directs T.N. Govt to geo-reference all 24,684 wetlands mapped in 2010

It wants the exercise to be carried out in all districts within two months, followed by physical verification to know the present status

The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Government to geo-reference and superimpose on satellite imagery the 24,684 wetlands mapped in the State under the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment (NWIA) in 2010 so that their exaction location could be identified and present status determined before being notified under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.

Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N. Mala issued the direction after amicus curiae P.S. Raman submitted a compact disc containing the georeferenced maps of the wetlands in Tiruvallur district, taken up on a pilot basis. The court had on July 1 directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to share with senior counsel a web link containing the shape and vector files of the wetlands so that he could take a Google impression and superimpose.

Accordingly, Mr. Raman, with the assistance of advocate A. Yogeshwaran and other technically qualified persons, ascertained the exact location of the wetlands in the district. Impressed with the work, the first Division Bench directed Additional Advocate-General J. Ravindran to ensure that a similar exercise was carried out in all other districts since the NWIA maps, in the scale of 1:50,000, do not indicate the exact location in every district.

Therefore, in order to ascertain the names of the villages and the taluks where the 24,684 wetlands in the State were located, it was essential to geo-reference them, the Bench said and directed the government to complete the work within two months. Thereafter, the government officials could take another two months to conduct personal inspections and ascertain the current status of the wetlands before safeguarding them and notifying them under the 2017 Rules, it ordered.

Since the amicus curiae had already completed geo-referencing the maps related to Tiruvallur district, the government officials could straightaway begin the second stage of physical verification in that district alone, the judges said. They also recorded the inclination of his technical team to assist the government officials, if required. The directions were issued on a 2017 suo motu public interest litigation petition taken up on the basis of Supreme Court orders.

Then, the court had requested Mr. Raman to assist the court pro bono since protection of wetlands in the State was a matter that required expertise and serious attention. The Supreme Court had requested all High Courts to take up the issue suo motu and monitor the progress made by the State Governments.