The Supreme Court in a recent order expressed serious concerns over the unchecked dumping of plastic and other waste materials into water bodies. The top court was hearing a case pertaining to illegal construction and unauthorised encroachment adjacent to the river Ganga, particularly in and around Patna.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti while highlighting the need for a unified effort by government and public to improve the water quality of Indian rivers, expanded the scope of case to include the larger question of pollution of rivers other water bodies in India and issued notices to Centre and State of Bihar.
The apex court warned that river pollution is causing significant environmental degradation and harming aquatic life in India.
"In course of deliberation in this matter, it came to light that there is wide spread use of plastic in the areas which are to be kept free from such pollution potential products. The dumping of plastic is causing serious environment 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," the top court said in its order.
The court gave four weeks time to Centre to file an affidavit addressing the environmental concerns raised by it, pertaining river pollution in India.
The court also directed Bihar to file an affidavit in four weeks, explaining the measures taken to address unauthorised constructions along the Ganga in and around Patna.
The counsel appearing for the State of Bihar submited that the State has identified 213 unauthorised constructions adjacent to the river Ganga in and around Patna and steps have been taken to remove these encroachments/constructions.
The directive was issued after advocate Akash Vashishtha, appearing for petitioner Ashok Kumar Sinha, highlighted the problem of indiscriminate dumping of plastic in the Ganga and other water bodies. Vashishtha urged the bench to protect India’s natural resources from the threats of plastic pollution and unauthorised construction, which continue to endanger the water bodies.
In December 2023, the top court had directed the Bihar government to identify and remove unauthorised constructions adjacent to the Ganga. On August 2, the Bihar government moved the top court seeking clarification if the December 2023 order banned all construction or only unauthorised illegal construction around Ganga river in Patna.
The court noted that the order needed clarification and it had only condemned unauthorised and illegal constructions around Ganga river.