Timeline fixed by SC over, only 82 out of 404 wetlands in J&K demarcated till date Ladakh UT yet to submit action plan for 1073 wetlands
JAMMU, Apr 26: Though the time-line fixed by the Supreme Court is already over yet only 82 out of 404 wetlands in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have been demarcated and ground-truthing exercise in respect of large number of bodies is still pending. However, the Ladakh Union Territory has yet not submitted any action plan for these tasks despite having more than 1000 wetlands.Jammu travel guide
In a Writ Petition titled “Anand Arya Versus Union of India”, a bench of the Apex Court of the country vide order dated December 11, 2024 observed, “prior to 2017, the figures given by ISRO regarding the number of wetlands in India having an area more than 2.25 hectares was 2,01,503. However, the latest ISRO data, which is of the year 2021, shows that this figure has now increased to 2,31,195”.
“The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 and the guidelines issued there-under prescribe that the next step after identification of such wetlands is what is called Ground truthing, which is the term given to the actual inspection of these wetlands by a team constituted by the State/UT administration for that purpose. This step has, however, been neglected by almost all the States and the Union Territories to some extent”, the Supreme Court had further observed, adding “as regards demarcation of these wetlands all most all the States/UTs have done almost nothing”.
Accordingly, the Apex Court had directed that Wetland Authority of each State and UT shall complete ground-truthing as well as demarcation of boundaries of wetlands identified by Space Application Centre Atlas (SAC Atlas), 2021 as expeditiously as possible but definitely within a period of three months from December 11, 2024.
As per SAC Atlas, there are a total of 404 wetlands in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Of these, ground-truthing has been completed for 227 wetlands and boundary demarcation for 82 wetlands although deadline for the completion of the task as per action plan was March 18, 2025. Further, the boundary demarcation data has not been uploaded on the portal of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.Jammu travel guide
This has been revealed by the Union Ministry in an official document submitted before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which is also handling an application on the subject and had sought complete details of the wetlands in respect of Jammu and Kashmir vide order dated December 23, 2024.
As far as Union Territory of Ladakh is concerned, there are 1074 wetlands as per SAC Atlas but the ground-truthing has been completed in respect of only 32 wetlands till date. Most shocking aspect is that none of these wetlands has been demarcated till date. Further, action plan for completion of ground-truthing and demarcation has not been submitted by the administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The failure to meet the deadline fixed by the Supreme Court is notwithstanding the fact that there is a Wetland Authority in Jammu and Kashmir which was created by the Government of the Union Territory on November 25, 2020 under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. This Authority is responsible for the conservation and management of wetlands and is comprised of various high-ranking officials.Jammu travel guide
The Authority is supposed to prepare a comprehensive digital inventory of all wetlands; develop a comprehensive list of activities to be regulated and permitted within the notified wetlands and their zone of influence; recommend additions, if any, to the list of prohibited activities for specific wetlands; define strategies for conservation and wise use of wetlands within their jurisdiction; review Integrated Management Plan for each of the notified wetlands; issue necessary directions for the conservation and sustainable management of wetlands to the respective implementing agencies; undertake measures for enhancing awareness within stakeholders and local communities on values and functions of wetlands etc.
