Supreme Court extends ground truthing and demarcation of wetlands to all water bodies, linking them to right to life

Key facts

• The Supreme Court, in an October 12 order by Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi, expanded the identification and demarcation of wetlands to all water bodies across the country, citing their role as sources of drinking water under Article 21.
• In December 2024, the court had directed states and union territories to complete ground truthing and physical demarcation of wetlands in the 2021 Space Applications Centre (SAC) Atlas within three months under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
• States must now file affidavits within four weeks on the status of ground truthing of wetlands and other water bodies, following the four-stage model adopted by Tamil Nadu.
• Tamil Nadu has 28,898 wetlands, of which 2,614 have been demarcated, and the court allowed it four months to complete demarcation of the rest.
• The court noted that even nine years after the 2017 Rules were published, ground truthing and demarcation remain incomplete.
• The 2021 Atlas identified about 555,557 wetlands smaller than 2.25 hectares, and the court reiterated that states must identify, specify and mark these as well.
• The matter has been posted for November 16.