NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said unchecked dumping of plastic and other waste materials at many river banks and water bodies was causing significant environmental degradation and harming aquatic life.
Expressing concern, a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti said there is widespread 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," the court said.
The bench opined unless concerted effort is made by the responsible authorities with people’s cooperation, irrespective of the efforts to target illegal or unauthorised constructions, the desired improvement of the quality of the water in river Ganga and all other rivers and water bodies in the country would remain illusory.
The court was hearing an appeal filed by Ashok Kumar Sinha, a Patna resident, out of an order by the National Green Tribunal.
It directed the Centre and the Bihar government to file an affidavit in the matter within four weeks.
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Appearing for Sinha, advocate Akash Vashishtha said that there are massive illegal constructions of colonies, setting up of brick kilns and other structures, including, a 1.5 km road by the Bihar government itself, on the eco fragile floodplains of Ganga in Patna, one of the richest Dolphins habitat in the subcontinent.
Further, the groundwater of the areas adjacent to Ganga River in Patna was heavily laced with Arsenic and therefore, the purity and ecological integrity of Ganga becomes all the more pressing for sustaining 5.5 lakhs population of Patna, he said.
This was in complete violation of the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection & Management) Authorities Order, 2016, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, he claimed.
The counsel also submitted that the areas upstream and downstream of the stretch between Nauzer Ghat to Nurpur Ghat comprised one of the richest Dolphins habitat which was being threatened with these illegal constructions, on Ganga riverbed and floodplains.
"Bihar, for example, is just taking 25 meters from the river edge as benchmark, which, in effect, would completely destroy the whole of Ganga floodplain area in the state. This is a serious issue, which needs to be looked into," the counsel said.
The court had earlier indicated to increase the ambit of the case so as to include the floodplains of all 11 Ganga basin states.
