Wetland Delineation: establishing whether a site is a wetland, and where its boundary runs.

The Rules adopt the Ramsar definition: areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or saline, including certain marine areas. They expressly exclude river channels, paddy fields and human-made water bodies constructed for purposes such as drinking water, aquaculture, salt production, recreation and irrigation.

No. Delineation is a technical exercise establishing the extent of the feature on evidence. Notification is a decision by the State to bring a specific wetland under the Rules with a defined boundary and zone of influence. A delineation report informs that decision and informs a proponent's own risk position; it does not itself create or remove a legal status.

It comes from the identification exercise carried out on national wetland inventory mapping, where wetlands above roughly that mapped extent were taken up for identification by the States. It is a threshold used in that exercise, not a definition: a smaller water body is not automatically outside the Rules, and the State's own inventory position should be checked.

The obligation on States to identify and notify has been pursued through directions and the position differs between States. A feature that meets the definition can attract attention and objection even before notification, and courts and tribunals have acted on that basis. Delineating and recording the position early is the practical protection.

No. The State Wetlands Authority takes its own view, and may rely on its inventory, its own inspection or the district administration. A well-evidenced delineation is the proponent's case, not the decision, which is why the evidence base (imagery, records, hydrology, ground truthing) matters more than the conclusion stated.

The Rules prohibit conversion for non-wetland uses, encroachment, setting up or expansion of industries, disposal of construction and demolition waste, solid waste dumping and discharge of untreated effluents, among others. Other activities are regulated, meaning they are for the State Wetlands Authority to decide upon rather than automatically barred.

Not by itself. What matters is whether the project footprint or its effects fall within the wetland or its zone of influence, and how the proposed activity is classified. Many projects proceed with layout changes, buffers and drainage measures established at the delineation stage rather than after a notice.

They are separate. Wetland restrictions apply under the Wetlands Rules irrespective of whether a project needs Environment Clearance, and an EC does not authorise an activity the Wetlands Rules prohibit. Where both apply, the delineation and the Authority's position should be settled and reflected in the EIA rather than discovered during appraisal.