The Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA) has ordered the Nilgiris authorities to file a report on wetland encroachment in the district following construction activities near the Udhagamandalam railway station and other facilities close to the Ooty lake.
The construction began amid opposition from conservationists, who highlighted the damage to the marsh and the resultant flooding of Udhagamandalam.
In a letter to the District Level Wetland Management Committee, TNSWA member-secretary Deepak Srivastava said the land use pattern of the natural swamp adjacent to the railway station was being severely degraded by the construction of a parking lot in violation of court orders.
Pointing to an order of the Madras High Court, the letter said that until ground-truthing of wetlands is done and the wetlands are notified under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, they should be protected from all kinds of degradation.
Mr. Srivastava noted that construction activities were being undertaken without ecosystem-based approaches for restoration, conservation, and protection of the pristine Ooty lake being followed. Any unmindful construction activity shall jeopardize the flow of benefits of non-marketable invaluable ecosystems to local communities, Mr. Deepak Srivastava wrote in the letter, which was also addressed to district railway and tourism officials.
“This kind of deliberate act of conversion of swamps, marshes and natural lakes, which are natural sponges for groundwater recharge, water purification, biodiversity conservation and climate regulation, needs to be stopped in the larger public interest and penal action should be initiated against the irresponsible officials of the concerned Government Departments and others as per the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,” the letter said.
