PROTECTING WETLANDS

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court for the protection of wetlands. M K Balakrishnan, an advocate, has filed the petition, which also includes a provision for paddy fields to be declared as productive wetlands. The PIL is based on a ruling given by the Calcutta high court in response to a petition filed by People United for Better Living in Calcutta (PUBLIC), a non-governmental organisation. "The judgement only covered the state of West Bengal but we need a similar judgement for the whole country," says Balakrishanan. In the PUBLIC case, the apex court had restrained the reclamation of wetlands for development activities.