The Supreme Court docket has directed each the State of Bihar in addition to the Union of India to file an acceptable report on the standing of unlawful and unauthorised development in addition to air pollution because of plastic waste within the river Ganga.
The Supreme Court docket advanced in New Delhi. (FILE PHOTO)
The order got here from the bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan whereas listening to a case filed by one Ashok Kumar Sinha alleging rampant encroachment on the floodplains of river, which threaten aquatic life, together with uncommon Dolphins, in Patna on April 2.
The following date of listening to is after 4 weeks, when the courtroom has sought detailed report on the present standing, the progress made to this point on the floor stage and the way the floodplains have been described within the income data and if there may be any development throughout the zone of floodplains of the Ganga. The order additionally gave liberty to appellant Ashok Kumar Sinha to apprise the courtroom concerning the present place.
“We would like to know what steps have been taken by the authorities to remove all such encroachments over the banks of river Ganga and how many such encroachments are still there as on date and in what manner authorities propose to remove all such encroachments and within what period of time,” the bench mentioned.
On December 1, 2023, in course of the listening to, the counsel for the state had knowledgeable the courtroom that after survey, 213 unauthorised constructions adjoining to the river Ganga had been recognized in and round Patna and steps have been taken to take away them. Later, the counsel knowledgeable that in some instances the settlers had received keep from the Excessive Court docket, however the apex courtroom sought particulars of the instances.
The measurement work and identification of encroached areas was achieved by the staff (constituted beneath the orders of the District Justice of the Peace) based mostly on a comparative examination of the Survey Map (1908-09) and the Municipal Survey Map (1932-33).
The courtroom has earlier noticed that “the state shall ensure no further illegal construction or unauthorised encroachment takes place adjacent to the river Ganga, particularly in and around the city of Patna.”
The appellant had appealed earlier than the apex courtroom after the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal (NGT) disposed of his software difficult unlawful constructions of colonies, organising of brick kilns and different buildings, together with, a 1.5 km street by the Bihar authorities itself, on the delicate floodplains in Patna. The attraction alleged full violation of the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Safety & Administration) Authorities Order, 2016, beneath the Surroundings (Safety) Act, 1986.
With regard to the issues on dumping of plastic waste, the Ministry of Surroundings, Forest and Local weather Change (MoEF&CC), New Delhi, additionally filed an affidavit within the case on the directive of the courtroom and mentioned that in deliberations “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 Ministry, it mentioned, had notified the Plastic Waste Administration (Modification) Guidelines, 2021, thereby prohibiting the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution and sale and use of recognized single use plastic gadgets, which have low utility and excessive littering potential, with impact from July 1, 2022.
It additionally referred to the constotution of a Nationwide Activity Pressure to evaluate measures on implementation of ban on recognized single use plastic gadgets and efficient plastic waste administration within the nation. “All States and UTs have constituted a Special Task Force under Chief Secretary,” it added.
Ganga river as soon as flowed by means of the town and because of its large expanse, steamers had been used to take folks throughout. Nevertheless, it has drifted a number of kilometres away because of quite a few elements, together with geogenic in addition to synthetic like brick kilns, mining, silting, air pollution, and many others.