When Realty Strikes

On July 12, 2017, the Supreme Court fined the environment ministry Rs 50,000 for not complying with its directions to notify revised rules to protect wetlands.

- Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon

The ministry was given June 30 as the deadline to identify and inventorise 201,503 wetlands across the country. Wet lands like marshes, swamps, peat lands and inter-tidal areas are lands saturated with water, either seasonally or permanently. They are important for water recharge and maintaining hydrological cycles on the one hand and supporting specialised occupations, including fisheries, on the other. In recent years, their use has been contested. Property developers have systematically occupied wetlands for housing projects and shopping malls in urban and peri-urban areas.