The National Wetlands Committee (NWC) has told all states and Union territories to make it a top priority to follow a recent Supreme Court order. This order requires them to finish checking and marking the boundaries of wetlands, which are important natural areas. The Union environment ministry informed the Supreme Court about this on Monday.
Earlier, on December 24, the ministry asked all states to create plans to complete this work by December 31. In a court case about wetlands, the Supreme Court had instructed that each state must complete checking and marking the boundaries of wetlands identified by the Space Application Centre Atlas (SAC Atlas, 2021) quickly, but within three months after December 11, 2023.
During a meeting on December 27, the NWC decided to collect regular updates from each state to ensure they follow the court’s instructions. They emphasized that this task should be done as fast as possible, and that all involved parties should inform their officials and ensure consistent progress.
Currently, there are over 200,000 wetlands in India, but only 102 have been officially recognized. Most of them are in three states and one Union territory. Rajasthan has noted 75 wetlands and Goa 25, while Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh have recognized only one each.
The ministry’s recent report said that they will help states update their work daily. They will make sure that states and Union territories get reminders to speed up their work on checking and marking wetlands. States need to update their progress on a shared online document. As of March 22, out of 231,195 wetlands, 158,475 have been checked, and 74,644 have been marked. Notably, Chandigarh has completed both processes, followed closely by Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Tripura.
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