2 years not enough for wetland map brief? HC asks Maharashtra government

The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday came down heavily on the state for its failure to prepare a brief on the survey of wetlands that it was directed to undertake

The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday came down heavily on the state for its failure to prepare a brief on the survey of wetlands that it was directed to undertake by an earlier bench in 2013. After the state informed the court that it had not done the survey, the court expressed its displeasure at the time delay and directed the state to prepare the same in four weeks.

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A wetland atlas had been prepared by the Centre in 2013, wherein 44,000 wetland spots in Maharashtra were identified. The Maharashtra government had not accepted the same and said it would carry out its own survey, an assurance it had given to the court in 2017. However, it has failed to do for the past two years.

A division bench of justices SJ Katahwalla and BP Colabawalla, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by NGO Vanshakti Public Trust, was informed by advocate Kruthi Venkatesh that despite the passage of nine years since the Wetland Rules of 2010 had been formulated, the state had failed to map the wetlands and did not comply with the stipulations laid down in the rules.

As the state had refused to adopt the wetland atlas prepared by the Centre, the NGO filed the PIL seeking adoption and implementation of the 2010 Rules. Venkatesh sought directions to the state to do carry out its wetland survey expeditiously.

However, special counsel for the state GW Mattos informed the bench that the 2010 Rules had been superseded by the Wetland Rules 2017, hence the prayers in the PIL were not applicable anymore.

The court was not amused by the reason and questioned the delay in carrying out the exercise. “Are two years not enough for you to prepare a brief document?” questioned the bench. When the bench was informed that a brief document had been submitted in another case, the court, after perusing it, said the brief lacked basic details and hence, the state should prepare a new one within four weeks. The matter is now posted for hearing in January 2020.