The Supreme Court of India in a PIL ‘M.C.Mehta vs Union of India and others’ Writ Petition
(Civil) No.3727/1985 is inter-alia looking into the issue of pollution in holy river
Ganga. The matter came up before a bench of Justice T.S.Thakur and Justice Mrs.
R.Banumathi on 3rd September 2014. The Court was not satisfied by the affidavit
sworn and filed by the Joint Secretary to the Government of India and Mission
Director, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). The affidavit sets out the
historical background in which the Ganga Action Plans were prepared, the
National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) and different committees,
directorates and authorities constituted under the National Ganga River Basin Authority.
The affidavit also sets out the Externally Aided Projects (EAP) taken up in
connection with the Mission with the help of World Bank and Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA). It also sets out certain non-EAP plans currently
being handled by the Authority and broadly identifies steps that the Government
proposes to take in its endeavour to save the holy river from pollution
resultant degeneration and possible extinction. The Supreme Court was of the
view that apart from setting out the broad parameters of what the Government
has in mind, the affidavit does not set out the stagewise developments that the
Government aims to achieve in its mission to clean the river. The Solicitor
General for the Government stated that he will file a supplementary affidavit
in which the Government would detail the stages through which the projects
relating to cleaning of Ganga would progress and the estimated time-frame
within which such stagewise progress will be achieved. The Court granted three
weeks to do so. The petitioner requested
that the supplementary affidavit may additionally set out further steps, if any,
taken by the Government in relation to “ecological sensitive zones/areas” by
the Government from Gangotri downstream to 135 Kms. of the river length. He
submitted that a notification was issued on 18.12.2012 in this regard but no
follow-up steps have been taken by the Government ever since. The court accepted
the request and directed Government to address this aspect also in its
supplementary affidavit. The matter was adjourned to 24th September, 2014.
Click here for the Full text of the Order dated 3rd September 2014.
