NGT slaps ₹10 crore penalty on Kerala government for failure to protect Ramsar sites

Category : State Published on: April 03 2023

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The National Green Tribunal (NGT), in March 2023, imposed a penalty of Rs 10 crore on the Kerala government for failing to protect the Vembanad and Ashtamudi lakes, which are included in the Ramsar list of wetlands.
The wetlands, which provided refuge for a wide variety of vegetation and wildlife as well as migratory birds, had become polluted drains due to the dumping of pharmaceutical waste, plastic waste, household waste, and slaughterhouse waste.
The penalty of ₹10 crore had to be utilised for conservation/restoration measures by preparing an action plan to be preferably executed within six months.
A recent study by the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies noted the Vembanad lake’s water retention capacity to have decreased by 85 per cent in the last 120 years due to huge encroachment and devastation of its ecology.
The storage capacity of the wetland decreased to 387.87 million cubic metres in 2020 from 2,617.5 million cubic metres in 1900.
Ashtamudi lake, home to several plant and bird species, was included in the Ramsar list on August 19, 2002.
Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance as per UNESCO’s 1971 Convention on Wetlands held in Ramsar, Iran.
It is said that the certification brings visibility to ecologically sensitive wetlands and helps in conservation.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) is a specialized judicial body established in India in 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, to handle cases related to environmental protection and conservation.
The tribunal is headquartered in New Delhi and has regional benches in several cities across India.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands defines wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters.”

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NGT slaps ₹10 crore penalty on Kerala government for failure to protect Ramsar sites

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NGT slaps ₹10 crore penalty on Kerala government for failure to protect Ramsar sites

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