Lake areas outside Pulicat sanctuary must be protected under Wetland Rules, 2017: Wetland Authority

The Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA) has said the lake areas outside Pulicat bird sanctuary limits should be brought under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, to prevent the conversion of wetlands for non-wetland uses. 

The Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA) has said the lake areas outside Pulicat bird sanctuary limits should be brought under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, to prevent the conversion of wetlands for non-wetland uses. 

The submission was made in a report filed pertaining to a suo motu case, taken up by the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and subsequently transferred to the Southern Bench, based on an article by The Hindu on concerns over the shrinking of Pulicat bird sanctuary limits. 

In the report, Deepak Srivastava, member secretary of the TNSWA, pointed to a 2022 directive from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, which emphasised that all wetlands listed in the National Wetland Inventory Assessment of 2011, including Pulicat lake, must be protected under Rule 4(2). This protection is mandatory, regardless of whether the wetland has been formally notified. 

This rule prohibits the conversion of wetlands for non-wetland uses, such as encroachment and the establishment or expansion of industries. It also bans the dumping of solid waste, construction debris, hazardous materials, and untreated waste into wetlands.

During the 77th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife, held in January 2024, a proposal was discussed regarding the use of nearly 215.83 hectares of non-forest land within the eco-sensitive zone, located 5 km from the bird sanctuary, for the development of an industrial park.

As reported in the article mentioned above, the villages were included within the sanctuary in 1980, but the State government has now initiated the process of rationalising its boundaries. The settlement of claims marks the first step in the process of denotifying the sanctuary. Currently, the Pulicat bird sanctuary has a default 10-kilometre eco-sensitive zone. This will change once the boundaries of the sanctuary are established following the claim settlement of the locals.