HC notice to Punjab on maintenance of three Ramsar sites

RAMSAR CONVENTION IS AN INTERNATIONAL TREATY FOR THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF WETLANDS

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday put Punjab government on notice on a suo motu petition initiated on poor maintenance of Ramsar Convention sites in the state.

The notice was issued by the high court bench of justice SS Saron and justice Darshan Singh on a letter written by the Supreme Court to chief justices of different states requesting them to initiate suo motu proceedings to monitor the management of these sites till there was some visible improvement.

Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971. There are three Ramsar sites Punjab — Rupnagar, Harike and Kanjli. The response from the state government has been sought by May 23. The request from SC had come during the resumed proceedings of a public interest litigation (PIL) pending since 2001.

In February, the Centre had told the SC that Central Wetland Regulatory Authority (CWRA) has been constituted and ₹945.95 crore had been spent on the maintenance of Ramsar sites.

The SC observed that from the record before court, it appeared not much improvement have been made on the ground.

Also, activities or the steps undertaken and the expenditure incurred on such activities were extremely general in nature, the SC had observed. It was in this backdrop that high courts were requested by the SC to monitor maintenance work at these sites.