In a major ruling the Supreme Court of India has directed the Centre and the State Governments on Wednesday to frame a policy by June 30 to protect and preserve ecologically crucial wetlands threatened by encroachment in many parts of the country. The Court’s direction covers over two lakh wetlands across India which were identified through satellite imagery by ISRO in 2011. Emphasising the important role of wetlands in maintaining ecological balance, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Prafulla C Pant directed the Centre to notify all 2,01,503 wetlands and asked the states to provide details too.
Preservation of wetlands are seen as effective carbon sinks to mitigate climate change and support a wide variety of arial, land and aquatic wildlife and fauna. Wetlands and mangroves play a key role in the hydrological cycle in storm and flood control, water supply, providing food, fibre and raw materials. They support lakhs of migratory birds from colder regions of the world in summers. Goa’s mangroves protect our coastlines and filter pollutants.
The Supreme Court has been examining the issue since 2001 and passed various orders but our Goa Government has consistently disregarded them. It is shocking to see Goa’s mangroves and wetlands being butchered and destroyed by land grabbing activities; our Goa Government being the biggest culprit in blatantly converting the mangroves in the guise of “development”. Instead of protecting our wetlands the Goa Government is allowing them to be encroached upon over the years and converting them into concrete jungles, in connivance with the real estate mafia.
The Goa State Wetland Authority (GSWA) constituted in August 2016 is a bloody joke comprising of the Chief Minister as the Chairperson and the Minister of Forest & Environment as Vice Chairman; they should be following the directions of the Supreme Court in protecting and conserving; not destroying our wetlands.
