Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 26: The High Court today sought compliance of its orders with regard to conservation and protection of wetlands in the State as also concrete action plan for re-establishing of network of water bodies with River Jhelum.
The division bench of Justice Aloke Aradhe and Justice Tashi Rabstan while hearing PILs on protection and preservation of wetlands and river Jhelum sought compliance report of its directions passed on October 24 last year and August 28 this year, when the Court by the amicus to both PILs advocate Nadeem Qadri informed that these two orders till date have not been complied with by the Government.
On August 28 court in a Suomoto cognizance on the instructions of Supreme Court about wetlands had issued notice to Ministry of Environment and Climatic Change through its Secretary to inform the court on the issue of constitution of State Wet Land Authority.
Central Government has identified 2 lakh wet lands in the country and Supreme Court on the concern of wetlands under “Ramsar Conservation Sites” directed to all the States for new wet land rules and expressed the urgency for the management of wetlands and till date nothing has been done by the J&K State Government in this connection.
As per the ‘Atlas Ecology and Remote Sensing’ of the State there are 1230 wet lands identified in the State under ‘Ramsar Conservation Sites’ and under Rule 5 of the concerned rules, an authority has to be in place for management of wet lands.
With regard to directions passed on October 24 last year in which Court had said that the authorities have failed to re-establish the networking of Streams, Lakes, Wetland with River Jhelum, therefore had directed the Chief Secretary of the State to appoint the Nodal Officer for the same.
Commissioner Secretary Forest was directed to complete the demarcation of wet land within a fixed period of three months, as he had assured the court that no further extension of time be sought in this connection.
Deputy Commissioners of district Ganderbal, Srinagar, Baramulla, Budgam and Pulwama are already under court direction to cooperate with the Commissioner Secretary Forest for carrying out the exercise of demarcation process.
Follow our WhatsApp channel