The Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority has informed the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the Ooty lake had to be protected under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
The Nilgiris district administration had earlier contended before the Bench that the lake was ‘man-made’, and could not be considered as a wetland.
The lake, spanning over 2.25 hectares, was covered under the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment Report, 2011.
Consequently, it has to be protected under the Rule 4 of the 2017 Rules in accordance with a direction of the Supreme Court.