A year after the state government was directed to take steps for the conservation of Ashtamudi lake, the High Court on Tuesday issued an ultimatum to the government to comply with the order by January 7. The HC bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Judge Syam Kumar V M issued the order on Tuesday while considering a petition filed by Advocate Boris Paul.

The HC ordered that if the government fails to comply with the directive within a day, the Secretary of the Environment Department will be summoned and the official will have to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated. 

The HC, in an order issued in 2025, had issued a set of directions for immediate compliance after considering the affidavits filed by the Secretary, the State Wetland Authority of Kerala, the memo submitted by the Special Secretary, Environment Department. The court observed that various directions were issued, including the constitution of a specific unit. 

"Even the first step of issuance of the notification constituting the said unit has not been taken by the State, despite granting opportunity even in this contempt petition," the HC said in the order. 

Ashtamudi, an estuarine wetland covering 6,140 hectares, is the second-largest wetland in Kerala and the deepest estuary in the State. Ashtamudi Lake was designated as a Ramsar Site in 2002. The Ramsar Convention, adopted in 1971 by various countries, is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It aims to protect wetlands for their role in biodiversity, flood control, water purification, and livelihood support.

The original petition cited the sanitation survey carried out by the State Pollution Control Board and Ashtamudi lake during the year 2020-22. It flagged issues of open defecation and identified 39 drains flowing into the Ashtamudi lake. The report of the Environment committee submitted in the Assembly in 2023 showed that Ashtamudi lake faces heavy pollution, encroachment, and siltation and the waterbody has shrunk from 61.40 sq. kms. to 34 sq. kms. In 2023, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a penalty of ₹10 crore on the Government for its failure to protect the Ashtamudi lake and other wetlands, the petitioner had pointed out. 

The court then noted that it was necessary to ensure two primary requirements; a dedicated authority and a specific management plan. The HC then mandated specific timelines for the constitution of a dedicated authority in an order issued in July 2025. It was directed that Ashtamudi Wetland management unit shall be constituted within a period of two months.

The HC had directed that the Principal Secretary, Environment Department, can finalise the composition of the committee and also recommend one expert each from wetland ecology, hydrology, fisheries, landscape planning and socioeconomics, and two experts from wetland management, preferably having expertise relating to the Ashtamudi wetland. 

In its latest order, the HC has directed the state government to constitute Ashtamudi Wetland management unit by January 7.