Save Maharashtra's wetlands, says a petition

Frusrated with the inaction against the alleged destruction of wetlands in Navi Mumbai and other areas in the state, a Mumbaikar has started an online petition on change.org, addressing the Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray. The petition appealed him to direct the State Wetland Authority to urgently identify and inventorise and prepare brief documents for all wetlands, including man-made wetlands, paddy fields, coastal wetlands. The petition started by Naresh Chandra Singh, a green activist based in Navi Mumbai, also asks for time bound provisions for actions such as fencing, installing CCTV cameras, and appointing security personnel, to prevent illegal activities in the wetlands. It wants the concerned authorities to notify all the wetlands under the relevant Wetland Rules and Environment Protection Act of the country.

The petition also asks the District Collector, CIDCO MD, State Wetland Committee, Chief Minister of Maharashtra , Prime Minister of India, Ramsar Convention, Bombay High Court, and the Supreme Court of India to look into the issue of wetland destruction. The activists who have been fighting to save these ecologically rich wetlands have also alleged that the government authorities were not taking wetlands conservation seriously. According to Singh's petition, the state has a total of 44,714 wetlands.

44K
Number of wetlands in the state

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