Merely because a property is lying fallow, it cannot be termed as wetland or paddy land in contemplation of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008, observed the Kerala High Court in Mather Nagar Residents Association and Another v. District Collector, Ernakulam and Others [2020 (2) KLT 192].
The definition of “wetland” is provided under Section 2(xviii) of the Act, 2008 as follows: “wetland means land lying between terrestrial and aquatic systems, where the water table is usually at or near the surface or which is covered by shallow water or characterized by the presence of sluggishly moving or standing water, saturating the soil with water and includes backwaters, estuary, fens, lagoon, mangroves, marshes, salt marsh and swamp forests but does not include paddy lands and rivers.”
The High Court held that to treat a particular land as wetland, it must possess the characteristic features and requirements as provided under the Act, 2008.
According to the definition of “wetland” under the Act, 2008, a fallow land can never be treated as wetland in accordance with the provisions thereof.
Therefore, merely because a property is lying fallow and water gets logged during the rainy season, or otherwise due to the low-lying nature of the property, it cannot be termed as wetland or paddy land in contemplation of the Act, 2008.
