The dumping of plastic is causing significant environmental degradation and adversely affecting aquatic life in the country’s rivers and water bodies, said the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
“The dumping of plastic is causing serious environmental degradation and also impacting aquatic life in the river banks and the water bodies in the country.Unless concerted effort is made by the responsible authorities with people’s cooperation, irrespective of the efforts to target illegal/unauthorized constructions, the desired improvement of the quality of the water in River Ganga/all other rivers and water bodies in the country will remain illusory,” a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti said.
The top court asked Aishwarya Bhati, Additional Solicitor General to file an affidavit on the issue within four weeks.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by Patna resident Ashok Kumar Sinha challenging a June 30, 2020 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which dismissed his petition against illegal constructions and permanent encroachments on eco-fragile floodplains.
The plea argued that the tribunal issued the order without reviewing the detailed information about the violators encroaching on the Ganga floodplains in Patna, which was provided by the appellant.
The Supreme Court also clarified its earlier order directing the Bihar governmentto prevent any further illegal construction or unauthorized encroachment adjacent to the river Ganga, especially in and around Patna City.
Illegal constructions obstructing natural course of the river
The plea, filed by advocate Akash Vashishtha, had stated that illegal and unauthorised constructions and permanent encroachments on the Ganga floodplain are causing significant waste, noise, and large amounts of sewage.
“They are aggravating the risk to life and property of the dwellers occupying the surroundings since every year, the areas stated in preceding paras go down under flood waters. The illegal constructions were obstructing the natural course of the river,” said the plea. It argued that these activities are causing severe environmental damage to the rich biodiversity, destroying habitats, and threatening the survival of Dolphins, a Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, in the area. It also said that the tribunal did not consider the crucial fact that a clean Ganga river is essential for meeting the drinking and domestic water needs of the city’s 550,000 residents, given that the groundwater in the district is contaminated with arsenic.
According to the plea, a significant 520 acres of ecologically sensitive Ganga floodplain, stretching from Nauzer Ghat to Nurpur Ghat in Patna, have been encroached upon. The plea also mentioned that a multi-storey building, belonging to Takhat Shri Harmandir Sahib, has been under construction since 2017, with parts of it still being built.
