The Supreme Court has held that water bodies are a precious source of drinking water and fall within the protective ambit of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, saying courts cannot remain “mere spectators” while such water bodies remain unprotected, LawBeat reported. A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi directed all States and Wetland Authorities to undertake physical ground truthing and demarcation of wetlands and other water bodies, following the methodology adopted by Tamil Nadu.
Ground truthing means physically visiting a water body to verify its actual location, boundaries, size and condition on the ground and checking whether these match official records and satellite images. The Court directed the States to complete the exercise within four months and file compliance affidavits within four weeks detailing the manner and methodology adopted. Referring to Rule 7(1)(a) of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, the Bench said the exercise must be undertaken by State and Union Territory authorities in coordination with the concerned nodal departments, using a scientific approach involving satellite image verification, reconciliation of revenue records and physical installation of pillars, LawBeat reported.
Dealing with an appeal filed by Anand Arya, the Court clarified that the exercise is not confined to designated wetlands: it covers all water bodies, including those smaller than 2.25 hectares, identified in the existing atlases, LawBeat reported. Inshorts, citing Hindustan Times, reported the same expansion of the mandate to all water bodies nationwide and said Tamil Nadu was cited as a model state, having demarcated 2,614 of its 28,898 wetlands, and was given four months to complete the exercise.
Source: Inshorts / Hindustan Times — Supreme Court expands wetland demarcation to all water bodies
The Court took on record a compliance affidavit filed by Karnataka stating that the State has 14,936 wetlands, of which 14,355 water bodies have been ground-truthed and demarcated, and directed Karnataka to place all relevant documents on record within four weeks. The Bench noted that the exercise had still not been completed despite several earlier directions issued on December 11, 2024, August 19, 2025, October 7, 2025, October 28, 2025 and July 28, 2026, observing: “Even after nine years from the date of publication of Rules, this exercise is not completed or concluded,” LawBeat reported.
The Court also rejected an application seeking appointment of a valuer to assess the cost of restoring the temple tanks of India. It was submitted that Vrindavan has more than 100 kunds, or large water tanks, of which around 80 per cent are in a dilapidated condition; the Bench noted it had earlier rejected a plea seeking a direction to the Union of India to pay Rs 80 crore — yaani Rs 0.8 arab (800 million rupees) — for restoring more than 100 kunds in Vrindavan, and said the question of appointing a valuer at this stage does not arise. The matter has been listed for further consideration on November 16, 2026, LawBeat reported.