Shielding India's Aquatic Sanctuaries: Decoding the Supreme Court's Mandate on Mining Near Wetland Reserves

1. The Judicial Turning Point: Supreme Court Clarification & Impact on Mining

What the Supreme Court Clarified

Hearing an application filed by the Himachal Pradesh government, a Supreme Court Bench (headed by CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi) clarified that its February 14, 2024 interim order—which restricted mining within a 10-km radius of Uttarakhand’s Asan Wetland Conservation Reserve—applies across the country for all notified wetland conservation reserves and community reserves for the sake of parity.

Himachal Pradesh had argued that the Asan reserve was outside its territory and that, unlike national parks, wetland reserves do not carry a statutory buffer zone. The Court rejected this state-centric boundary view, emphasizing that ecological terrain (such as the Himalayan landscape) requires uniform protective directions.

How the Order Impacts Mining Around Ramsar & Wetland Reserves

• Mandatory Regulatory Clearance: No mining activity can be undertaken within a 10-km radius of any notified wetland conservation reserve or community reserve without prior permission from the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) and/or the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

• Heightened Judicial Scrutiny: It bridges a critical legislative oversight by imposing strict environmental scrutiny on commercial mining projects operating near sensitive aquatic ecosystems.

• Inter-State Ecological Continuity: States sharing contiguous river basins or terrain with a wetland reserve in a neighboring state can no longer grant unchecked mining permits without central wildlife approval.

2. Spotlight on Asan: Significance of the Wetland Conservation Reserve

• Location & Hydro-Ecology: Located at the confluence of the Asan and Yamuna rivers in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand.

• International Importance: Designated as Uttarakhand’s first Ramsar Site in 2020.

• Biodiversity Hub: Serves as a critical wintering habitat for migratory waterbirds along the Central Asian Flyway and supports rare aquatic species.

• Legal Benchmark: It became the catalyst for establishing a judicial 10-km wildlife clearance zone for wetland conservation reserves in India.

3. The Statutory Vacuum: Ramsar Buffer Zones & Mining Rules

Do Ramsar Sites Have a Statutory Buffer Zone?

No. Neither international law nor domestic Indian legislation mandates an automatic, spatial buffer zone specifically for Ramsar sites:

1. Ramsar Convention (1971): An international treaty promoting the "wise use" of wetlands. It provides recognition and international commitments but does not create an automatic domestic statutory regime or buffer zones.

2. Wetlands Rules, 2010 vs. 2017:

   • 2010 Rules: Contained explicit prohibitions (reclamation, industry setup, dumping) and regulated activities within a "zone of influence" requiring Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs).

   • 2017 Rules: Decentralized regulation to State Wetland Authorities (SWAs) and removed the explicit blanket prohibition list, delegating the buffer identification responsibility largely to states.

Because the statutory framework under the 2017 Rules lacks explicit buffer distance norms, the Supreme Court's ruling acts as a judicially mandated safeguard to fill the statutory void.

4. Comparative Matrix: Mining Restrictions Across Protected Areas

Protected Area Type	Governing Statute / Standard	Mining Restrictions & Buffer Mandate	Approving Authority
National Parks & Wildlife Sanctuaries	Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 & SC Mandates	• Mining completely prohibited inside. • Mandatory 1-km Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) no-mining buffer around boundaries (or larger if notified).	SC-NBWL & MoEFCC
Wetland Conservation Reserves	Wetlands Rules, 2017 + SC Asan Order	• No statutory buffer under 2017 Rules. • 10-km clearance radius: Mandatory approval required before mining.	SC-NBWL / MoEFCC
Forest Areas	Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980	• Mandatory forest diversion approval prior to any non-forest activity/mining.	Central Government (MoEFCC)
Standalone Ramsar Wetlands	Ramsar Convention & Domestic Rules	• No international or domestic statutory distance buffer. • Protection depends on state notification or overlapping sanctuary status.	State Wetland Authorities