The Bombay High Court took up the issue of conservation of wetlands in Maharashtra on its own and appointed a legal advisor to monitor the direction passed by the Supreme Court last month to protect over 2.31 lakh wetlands in India. On December, 2024, the top court gave a deadline of three months to state wetland authorities across India to demarcate all wetlands having an area of more than 2.25 hectares. Following the apex court order, these wetlands received legal protection. The Supreme Court had also asked the concerned high courts to monitor the issue.
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Nearly a month after the top court’s direction, a division bench of the Bombay High Court appointed lawyer Janak Dwarkadas as amicus curiae. The responsibility has been assigned to file a detailed note outlining those issues. Decisions need to be taken. The high court also issued notice to the Centre, Union Environment Ministry, Maharashtra government, state environment, forest and revenue ministries as well as the Maharashtra Wetlands Authority.
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The top court in its direction had said that before 2017, the figures given by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) regarding the number of wetlands having an area of more than 2.25 hectares in India was 2,01,503. The top court cited the latest ISRO data published in 2021, which showed that the figure has now reached 2,31,195.
