Wetland authority set to begin functioning next month

K.S. Sudhi, KOCHI,  
The Hindu, August 25, 2015

The State Wetland Authority, Kerala, (SWAK), which will decide on the conservation and management of over 1,300 wetlands of the State, will get its act together next month.

Though the State government had issued an order constituting SWAK in June, the Memorandum of Association (MoA) were not finalised and expert members were not appointed. It is after a long delay that the State has come forward for forming the authority. At present, there is no exclusive system for the conservation, management, and protection of wetlands in the State.

Ponds, lakes, rivers, and other water bodies will come within the ambit of the authority.

Going by the government order, the Minister for Environment will be the chairman of the authority and the Principal Secretary (Environment) will be its convener. The 11-member panel will have four expert members, including an expert in limnology, hydrology, biodiversity, and ecology. The authority has been formed as instructed by the Central legislation concerned. P. Mara Pandyan, Principal Secretary (Environment), said the draft MoA had been prepared. The document would be finalised by September-end. The expert committee members, mostly scientists, will be picked up shortly.

Ashker Khader, a lawyer specialising in environmental issues, said that SWAK would end up as another wasteful expenditure unless it was given statutory powers to initiate action against violation of rules under the Environment Protection Act. The Central Wetland Management Rules prescribe formation of a State nodal agency such as the Central Wetland Authority for regulation and enforcement of rules. However, in the case of the SWAK, it was registered as a government-owned society under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific, and Charitable Societies Act, he said.

However, Mr. Mara Pandyan said the authority, which has statutory powers, could act effectively on the conservation and management of wetlands. It would have a decisive say in checking unauthorised reclamation and pollution of wetlands. It would chart out programmes for the protection of wetlands, he said.