# Supreme Court Extends Mining Approval Rule to Wetland Reserves 2026-08-06T21:41:55+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Supreme Court has clarified that its February 2024 direction requiring prior approval for mining within 10 km of Uttarakhand’s Asan Wetland Conservation Reserve applies, for parity, to wetland conservation reserves across India. The order could extend the judicial safeguard to similarly notified reserves elsewhere. The clarification came while hearing an application by the Himachal Pradesh government. The State argued that the earlier order should not automatically apply to Himachal Pradesh because Asan lies in Uttarakhand and wetland conservation reserves, unlike national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, have no statutory buffer zone. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: environment, mining, Ramsar sites, Supreme Court, wetlands Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-extends-mining-approval-rule-to-wetland-reserves/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-extends-mining-approval-rule-to-wetland-reserves/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.