New Delhi, Dec. 12 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the protection of around 30,000 more wetlands over the 201,503 protected by a 2017 order, and, more importantly, asked states and Union Territories to ensure the demarcation and ground truthing them within three months - a significant step in the protection of habitats usually ignored by governments.

To be sure, the court order covers only wetlands that are more than 2.25 hectares in size.

The number of wetlands is based on satellite data from SAC-ISRO, which is why it needs to be ground-truthed.

The bench was hearing a PIL by Anand Arya, a Greater Noida based birder and environmentalist, advocate MK Balakrishnan and NGO Vanashakti. The next date in the matter has been kept f...