Supreme Court has expressed concern over the disappearance of wetlands in the country and told the government that this was an important issue which deserved very serious attention. A wetland is a marshy land area like swamps or mangroves that has water either permanently or seasonally and which could also have a distinct ecosystem.
A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur yesterday asked the Centre to inform it about the status of funds disbursed by them to the states for preservation of wetlands and also about how these have been spent by the states. The government informed the top court that the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 have been notified and it would replace the earlier set of guidelines which came into effect in 2010. The bench also referred to its earlier order and said that 2,01,503 wetlands in the country would continue to be protected by the government.