Notify wetlands in two months or face action: NGT to UP government

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has pulled up the union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and the Uttar Pradesh government for not taking effective steps to protect wetlands. NGT said if states like UP do not identify and notify wetlands in their respective areas in the next two months, it will have to take punitive action against the officials concerned.
Notifying an area means that the state declares that it is legally bound to protect that particular area, in this case a wetland. After notification, the area cannot be destroyed for any other project, including housing, roads etc., according to officials.
The NGT order comes in response to a contempt petition filed by Noida-based petitioner Anand Arya in November 2015. He had filed the petition after the state government failed to identify and notify all of its wetlands, flouting NGT’s earlier order delivered on March 3, 2015. In that order, the NGT had directed the UP chief secretary to identify and notify all wetlands across the state, latest by June 3, 2015.
“In the contempt petition, I also demanded that all states be asked to identify and notify wetlands,” said Arya.
During the hearing on Thursday, lawyers for MoEF and the state government asked the green tribunal for more time to identify and notify wetlands. However, the tribunal refused.
“Bigger states like UP or Tamil Nadu are directed to identify and notify all wetlands in 10 districts in the next two months. Smaller states like Haryana or Delhi are asked to identify and notify all wetlands in five districts in the next two months,” said Ritwick Dutta, Arya’s lawyer.
“The NGT said if you cannot identify and notify all wetlands in the states in two months then select 10 districts (in bigger states) that have larger number of wetlands. For smaller states, the NGT asked them to select five districts that have larger number of wetlands,” Dutta added.
In the hearing, an NGT bench of Justice Swatanter Kumar angrily asked MoEF what they were doing to protect wetlands.
“The MoEF is not coordinating with states to pave the way for protection of wetlands,” said Arya.
The UP government’s advocate told NGT that the state has 1,34,000 wetlands and thus it cannot notify them in two months. “UP has not properly identified each wetland. According to Wetland Rules 2010, identification means that the state has to file details of each wetland about its size, sources of water, land owning and how it can be protected,” said Arya.
-
Major bureaucratic reshuffle: 29 IAS, 16 IPS officers transferred in Rajasthan
The Rajasthan state government on Monday transferred 29 IAS and 16 IPS officers, including six collectors and three superintendents of police. Prakash Rajpurohit is appointed as the new collector of Jaipur; Jitendra Kumar Soni of Alwar; Anil Kumar Agarwal of Dholpur; Tina Dabi of Jaisalmer; Ravindra Goswami of Bundi and Inderjeet Yadav of Dungarpur. IPS Prashan Kumar Khamesra was transferred as IGP, Kota from Bharatpur, Gaurav Srivastava as IGP, Bharatpur from IGP Personnel, Jaipur.
-
Punjab cabinet expansion: Who are the 5 new ministers in Bhagwant Mann govt?
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday expanded his cabinet, with five Aam Aadmi Party MLAs being inducted in the government. It was the first cabinet expansion of the AAP government after it won the Assembly elections this year. Here's all you need to know about the new ministers.
-
Will look into grievances about Covid-19 claims: IRDA assures HC
Mumbai: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority on Monday, assured the Bombay high court (HC) that it will look into grievances about the purported irregularities committed by insurance companies in processing Covid-related insurance claims. The assurance came in response to a Public Interest Litigation, which sought a probe into the irregularities committed by insurance companies in processing Covid-19 claims and the inaction of the IRDA to curb them.
-
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde breaks down in House while recalling family
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Monday broke down while speaking in the state assembly. Remembering his family, the chief minister became emotional as he recalled the demise of his two children while he was a corporator. Shinde's children Dipesh and Shubhada had drowned in the family's ancestral village. During his address, Shinde said he did not betray anyone but revolted against injustice.
-
Delhi: From a granary to creative business street
For the uninitiated, Dhan Mill Compound, a former granary and a cluster of warehouses, has morphed into the city’s modish food, fashion, design and lifestyle destination. Its streets are lined with art cafes, home décor outlets, ateliers, art galleries, pottery studios, dance halls and high-end boutiques, whose facades and interiors are as interesting and experimental as the wares they deal in. Interestingly, all of these fancy establishments are housed in re-purposed warehouse buildings, which still have metal roofs.