NGT Directs Tamil Nadu Government to Notify Perur-Sundakamuthur Tank as Wetland

NGT directs Tamil Nadu to notify Perur-Sundakamuthur tank under Wetlands Rules, 2017, to protect bird habitat from decline.

The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Tamil Nadu government to notify the Perur – Sundakamuthur tank under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, at the earliest.

The bench, comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati, issued the order on Tuesday, stating that the notification would make wetland regulations applicable to the tank. .

The NGT took suo motu cognisance of a report titled Coimbatore’s Perur Lake: From Bird Sanctuary to a Fish Farm?, authored by G. Parameswaran, R. Sivashankar, and Vridhi R. of the Perur Lake Forum. Published on www.birdcount.in in December 2023, the report was based on their monitoring of the tank from 2014 to 2020.

The bench also ordered the Water Resource Department (WRD) to protect and maintain the tank, ensuring no illegal sand mining or encroachment occurs while the notification process is pending.

According to the six-year study by the Perur Lake Forum, 125 species of birds were recorded at the tank, including 21 winter migrants and 15 local migrants. The study noted an overall decline in the waterbird population from 2014 to 2020, with a 98% drop attributed to road construction and a 51% decline linked to sand mining and commercial fishing.

The WRD, in its submission to the NGT, stated that no sand mining had occurred in the tank. It also reported that constructions by Perur town panchayat within the water spread area had been removed, restoring the tank to its original condition. The WRD added that the road was laid over the tank bund along the boundary after the removal of encroachments and a retaining wall was built to protect the tank bund and road without affecting the water spread area.

Additionally, the District Forest Officer, Coimbatore Division, noted that the Perur tank is one of six tanks in the district identified by the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History for notification under the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. A District Level Wetland Management Committee and a sub-committee are currently reviewing the pre-existing rights and the dependency of nearby communities on the water body. The work is ongoing.