Stop dumping garbage into Ganga: High court
NAINITAL: Uttarakhand high court has directed the authorities in Uttarkashi district to stop dumping garbage on the land adjacent to Ganga river and sought reply of the state government within four weeks, said Niranjan Bhatt, counsel of the petitioner.
Bhatt said, in November last year, HC had taken suo motu cognisance of a media report regarding garbage being dumped into Tekhla River, a tributary of Ganga, by the Uttarkashi Nagar Palika Parishad and directed district magistrate Uttarkashi to hold an inquiry into the mater. HC while directing DM to hold inquiry “as to under what circumstances the local body had the audacity to dump the garbage straight into the tributary of River Ganges,” has also restrained Nagar Palika Parishad Uttarkashi from dumping garbage in Tekhla stream or in the forest area from now on.
Bhatt said following the directions, the authorities started dumping garbage on the land adjacent to river Ganga in Kansen village.
“The village pradhan of Kansen, Kishore Singh Bisht and others filed a PIL that the garbage dumped adjacent to Ganga river will finally make its way to the holy river as the land slopes towards Ganga,” he said.
Bhatt said hearing the matter, a division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice RC Khulbe have directed that dumping of garbage at Kansen be stopped and sought reply of the government within four weeks.
The HC has repeatedly expressed its concern on pollution in Ganga. In August, the HC while taking suo motu cognisance of contamination of Ganga, had directed the state government to ensure no untreated sewage was released into the river.
In July last year, responding to a PIL, HC had also ruled that solid waste cannot be permitted to be dumped near Ganga.
According to experts, the 2,525 km long Ganga is home to over 140 fish species, 90 amphibian species and the endangered Ganges river dolphin. Environmentalists have consistently raised their concern over pollution.
PIL ON GANGA, YAMUNA
The Uttarakhand high Court on Friday gave six weeks’ time to Centre, governments of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, National Capital Region (NCR), Haryana, state mission for clean Ganga and Uttarakhand pollution control board to file replies on steps taken for cleanliness of Ganga and Yamuna, said Ajay Veer Pundir, amicus curiae in the case.