Protection of wetlands
Through various legislations and court orders, many environmental rules were introduced over the years, through which wetlands are supposed to be protected by the government and its citizens.

As per the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010, wetlands are recognised as a unique and productive ecosystem. Under the scope of the legislation, ISRO was commissioned to create a Wetland Atlas. State governments were directed to prepare a ‘brief document’ inventory of wetlands of the state.
Vanashakti moved the High Court in 2013 vide Public Interest Litigation 87/2013 to compel the Maharashtra Government to participate in the protection of wetlands by preparing the brief document and by actively undertaking satellite mapping of the entire State of Maharashtra.
The Bombay High Court vide its order dated 14th October 2013 directed the government to ban construction on all wetlands in Maharashtra which figure in the atlas prepared by the Central Government. The division bench directed the secretary of the Urban Development Department to issue a necessary circular and ensure that civic bodies stop ongoing construction on wetlands.
The State Wildlife Board, chaired by then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, on 5th December 2015, accepted a proposal by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) to declare TSC, NRI and Panje wetlands as bird sanctuaries.
The Bombay High Court formed a State Wetland Grievance Redressal Committee with the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra State as the Chairman vide its order dated 25th July 2016.
Following the directives of the Honourable Bombay High Court in PIL 87/2013, the Government of Maharashtra setup a Grievance Redressal Committee vide notification dated 17th October 2016, to conserve and protect the wetlands.

Violations galore
Over the past few years, there have been several writ petitions filed against CIDCO for various environmental violations and unfriendly acts against nature. These include killing mangroves, dumping debris in lakes and blocking water flow into lakes. Not surprisingly, the fact that the 35.55 hectare golf course project was going to be sitting on wetlands that were frequented by thousands of birds doesn’t seem to have bothered them.

Though the project was proposed in 2002, plans were developed only after the Maharashtra Government issued a notification on 5th October 2016, which changed the land use of the area under Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act – from green zone to residential.

The land use change was challenged in court by local residents who had found that the National Wetland Inventory Assessment Atlas that ISRO had compiled for the Central Government carried a map that clearly showed that of the 35.55 hectares of Pockets ‘A’ to ‘E’ at Sector 60, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, about 33.45 hectares of the area fell under ‘wetland’.