SC seeks centre, UP's response on NGT's refusal to declare Surajpur as wetland

The Supreme Court has sought responses from the centre and the Uttar Pradesh government, on a plea challenging the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT’s) order, which refused to declare the low-lying areas in and around Surajpur reserve forest in Gautam Budh Nagar, as protected wetlands. A bench of justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Uttar Pradesh government, the National Wetlands Committee, the Greater Noida Authority and the Forest and Wildlife Department of the state. “Issue notice, returnable in four weeks,” the bench said.

A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally and has a distinct ecosystem. The top court was hearing a plea filed by environment activist Vikrant Kumar Tongad against a September 14, 2018 order of the NGT, which had disposed of his plea seeking declaration of area in and around Surajpur reserve forest in Gautam Buddh Nagar as protected wetlands, on the grounds that there was no revenue record corroborating the fact that other six low-lying areas were wetlands.

“According to the applicant, the other six low-lying areas are also wetlands and they should also be accordingly notified. The state government (UP) has responded, in respect of the said wetlands, that they do not fulfil the criteria of the purported wetland under Rule 3 of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. It is noteworthy that the applicant has placed on record, in support of his submissions that other six patches are wetlands, an atlas. There is no revenue record corroborating the fact that other six low-lying areas are wetlands. In such a situation, it would not be appropriate to hold the same to be wetlands, in absence of any relevant evidence on record,” the NGT had said in its order.

The Uttar Pradesh government had also told the NGT that these areas do not fulfil the criteria of wetlands, as specified under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. In his plea in the apex court, Tongad said that the tribunal has failed to take note that he placed on record a map prepared by the Space Application Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, which mapped around 2,01,503 wetlands in the country.

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