The Supreme Court has directed the Bihar government to ensure that no further construction work takes place on the banks of river Ganga, especially in and around Patna. The court has also directed the state to submit a report to it regarding the progress in removing 213 identified illegal structures, which have been built in the floodplain of river Ganga in Patna. The division bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Augustine George Masih gave this order during the hearing on the petition of Patna resident Ashok Kumar Sinha. The next hearing of this case will now be on February 5. Earlier, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had rejected his petition in its order dated June 30, 2020.
Ashok Kumar Sinha had filed a petition in the court against illegal construction and permanent encroachment on the environmentally delicate flood zone. It was argued in the petition that the NGT passed the order without examining the detailed description of the violators who had encroached on the floodplain of the Ganga in Patna. In the petition filed through advocate Akash Vashishtha, it was said that illegal construction of colonies, installation of brick kilns and other structures in the floodplain of Ganga is generating huge amount of garbage, noise and sewage. Additionally, illegal constructions are increasing the risk to life and property of residents living nearby. Every year the area gets submerged in flood waters.
Illegal constructions are obstructing the natural course of the river. It is also one of the richest dolphin habitats in the subcontinent. The petition has alleged gross violation of the Ganga River (Revitalization, Conservation and Management) Authority Order, 2016 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The petition said that instead of taking action against such illegal constructions and encroachments, the state agencies are providing electricity connections to them.
Bengal-Jharkhand should also join the appeal
During the hearing, the court said that the division bench is interested to know what is the situation in this regard in West Bengal and Jharkhand also. The court directed Additional Advocate General Aishwarya Bhati to present facts related to this before the court in the next hearing.
Many apartments have been standing in the lap of Ganga for years.
In Patna, dozens of constructions have been made in the lap of Ganga across the approximately 17.5 km long Patna Protection Wall. Several apartment towers have been standing near Kurji over the years. Which have been banned by the Municipal Corporation. Apart from this, there are hundreds of houses in many wards including Mainpura. Every year during the rainy season there is a situation of water logging here. The big thing is that the Municipal Corporation has also assessed holding tax etc. on these houses.
Clean Ganga is important and necessary: ​​Petitioner
The special leave petition, filed through advocate Akash Vashishtha, said that more than 520 acres of huge ecologically sensitive Ganga floodplain area spread from Naujar Ghat to Noorpur Ghat in Patna has been grabbed. It says that clean Ganga is important and necessary. Patna’s 55 lakh population needs drinking water and domestic water. Advocate Akash Vashistha told the court that the primary concern is that the most affected and damaged areas have not been surveyed. Almost the entire ground water of Patna has been contaminated due to arsenic, which is a highly carcinogenic element. The supply of drinking water in Patna city is completely dependent on the water of river Ganga.