NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today slapped Rs 50,000 as costs on the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for not complying with its order on identification and inventorising over two lakh wetlands in the country and notifying the new rules.
The apex court had in February directed the Centre to notify Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2016 on or before June 30 this year.
A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally and it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem.
A bench of Justices M B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta directed the Centre to file its detail affidavit by July 20 and imposed Rs 50,000 as costs for non-compliance of its earlier order.
Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for petitioner M K Balakrishnan, informed the court that no such rules have been notified nor wetlands have been inventorised. (AGENCIES)
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