Plea seeks stay on Jewar Airport until wetland protected, UP govt to inform about status in 4 weeks

While referring to the environmental clearance granted to the airport, he said that one of the conditions for the same was that protection shall be ensured in letter and spirit. “The conservation report on the impact of the airport project on Dhanauri Wetlands had been prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), following the clearance. The report has expressly recommended the declaration of the Dhanauri Wetlands as a Wildlife Sanctuary or Conservation Reserve, as soon as possible,” said Arya.

While hearing the petition, the counsel for the state government submitted to the bench of chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and Dr A Senthil that the proposal for notifying the wetland was submitted to the Wetland Authority on August 4, 2022.

Noting that certain objections were raised and some more documents were required by the authority, the counsel said the same was submitted by the Conservator of Forests concerned on April 1, 2023. He further stated that after the submission of the documents and clarification, the authority is now considering issuance of the required notification.

Mapped in the National Inventory of Wetlands and spread across around 98 hectares, the Dhanauri Wetlands is located among the villages of Dhanauri, Thasrana, and Aminpur Bangar in Dankaur Tehsil, Greater Noida, Gautam Budha Nagar. Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), the land-owning agency, gave a no-objection certificate on June 9, 2022 to declare it as a Ramsar Site and Sanctuary.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation of wetlands and their resources.

The convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975. The application of the petitioner stated that Dhanauri Wetland is home to over 217 species of birds and has been recognised as an important birding area by Bird Life International.

“It is complete apathy that the state government has failed to submit the proposal of Ramsar Convention for declaring Dhanauri Wetland as a Ramsar Site despite multiple Letters and emails of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change since 2019. Dhanauri Wetlands is home to over 150 Sarus Crane, which is UP’s state bird and these numbers can be seen at Roosting Time during March to May,” said the petitioner.