Supreme Court Expresses Dismay Over Andhra Pradesh Govt's Failure To Remove Illegal Bunds/Fish Tanks From Kolleru Lake Area

While dealing with the TN Godavarman case, the Supreme Court recently expressed dismay over State of Andhra Pradesh's failure to remove illegal encroachments from the Kolleru Lake area and expressed that if need be, the state will have to deal with the problem with an "iron hand".The Court found no merit in the defense that due to local fishermen's obstruction, among other things, the state was unable to fully comply with the directions issued by the Court in 2006 with regard to demolition of illegal encroachments in the form of fish tanks/bunds in a timely manner.A bench of Justices BR Gavai, AG Masih and K Vinod Chandran said,"we are of the opinion that the State ought to have had a dialogue with the opposing farmers and educated them that neither the Government Notification nor the directions of this Court would cause any hindrance in their continuing with their traditional fishing activities."The order was passed in a contempt petition filed by one K Mrutyunjaya Rao, alleging that State of Andhra Pradesh was in non-compliance with the Court's judgment of 10.04.2006, whereby fish tanks/bunds constituting illegal encroachment in the Kolleru Lake area were directed to be removed in a time-bound manner. This petition further alleged that besides encroachment, the subject area was suffering from solid waste dumping and discharge of untreated wastes and effluents (from industries, etc.).Insofar as Andhra Pradesh defended its non-compliance citing obstruction by local fishermen, the Court noted that the directions issued in 2006 did not affect the rights of fishermen surviving on traditional method of fishing. Even as per the 1999 notification issued by the state government under Section 26A of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (which prohibited aquaculture in the form of tanks), the rights of such fishermen were duly protected. Only those who had illegally constructed bunds and who were using harmful manures were prevented from doing so by the said Notification.Further, referring to the 2006 judgment, the Court underlined harmful effects of the illegal encroachments in the form of fish tanks/bunds:"It was further found from the material placed on record before this Court that there is obstruction to the free flow of water in the lake bed area due to raising of bunds, whereby the retention capacity of the lake is diminished. The Court has further found that on account of such encroachments, the right of the farmers in the upstream mandals to do cultivation would also be in jeopardy."It was also observed that an area of 6908.48 hectares is under illegal aquaculture in the Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary (which extends over 308.55 sq. km. out of the total 901 sq. km. of Kolleru Lake area) and under Section 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act, commercial activities inside the Sanctuary and a commercial activity which diverts, stops or increases the flow of water into or outside the sanctuary is strictly prohibited. At last, the Court concluded that neither the State's Notification nor the directions of 2006 come in the way of rights of fishermen doing fishing in a traditional way. "What is prohibited, is only the huge commercial aquaculture which prohibit the free flow of water and endangers the status of the wildlife."Two other issues flagged for consideration during the hearing included:(i) whether the state wetland committees/authorities constituted in terms of Rule 5 of the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 are functioning and meeting at least thrice in a year, as required under clauses (7) and (8) of Rule 5, and(ii) demarcation of wetland boundaries supported by accurate digital maps with coordinates and validated by ground truthing.So far as the second issue of demarcation, the Court was informed that the work is under progress and a Coordinate Bench has passed orders for completion of the same within 3 weeks from December 11, 2024. Expecting compliance with this time period, and seeking information from the state about concrete steps proposed to be taken for removal of unauthorized encroachment in the Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary, the matter was posted to 19.03.2025.Case Title: IN RE : T.N. GODAVARMAN THIRUMULPAD v. UNION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 202/1995Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Expresses Dismay Over Andhra Pradesh Govt's Failure To Remove Illegal Bunds/Fish Tanks From Kolleru Lake Area

Debby Jain

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