The Supreme Court has asked the Bihar government to remove all unauthorized structures between Nawsar Ghat and Nurpur Ghat in Patna within six weeks while cracking down on encroachments on the Ganga and Yamuna river basins.
The court also ordered status quo in the ongoing construction work near the Yamuna river in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh.
Dealing with the petition filed by Ashok Kumar Sinha, a bench of Justices JP Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan on Tuesday said: “What has been brought to light is something very serious. It is a matter of concern.”
The court was informed about encroachments between Nowzar Ghat and Nurpur Ghat in Patna and ongoing construction activity in Mathura district.
“Our concern is to ensure that the environmental flow of water is maintained,” the council, which directed the encroachments in Patna to be removed within six weeks, said.
The court further noted that the structure constructed in Mathura would eventually lead to the reduction of the Yamuna river channel.
An application filed by the Braj-Vrindavan Devalaya Samiti, a group of temples and sevaits in Vrindavan, informed the court about heavy constructions using cement concrete, iron and steel being carried out in the middle of the Yamuna river.
Read also: PMC seeks monthly reports on anti-encroachment measures
The court ordered the status quo and ordered the state authorities not to carry out any further construction work until the next hearing.
Regarding the Patna constructions, the Bihar government informed the court that out of 213 encroachments, 58 have been demolished so far while the state authorities have not been able to remove 145 encroachments due to some interim orders passed by the Patna High Court and district courts. It was also noted that there are more than 100 encroachments between Nowzar Ghat and Nurpur Ghat.
On March 12, the court had sought a status report from the Center as part of the National Mission of the Clean Ganga River Authority on the working status with respect to Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. On Tuesday, the court included the states of Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh as well.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhatti told the court that they need more time to record a comprehensive report. According to her, some countries have provided information but not to their satisfaction while other countries have not yet responded.
Advocate Akash Vashishta, who represented the petitioner, said the states were not doing anything to prevent further encroachment on river basins. He represented Sinha, a resident of Patna who had challenged the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dismissing his petition regarding alarming illegal and unauthorized constructions and encroachments on the floodplain of the Ganges in flagrant violation of the regulations imposed under the Ganges River Authorities (Regeneration, Protection and Management) Order 2016 issued by the Ministry of Water Resources under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The court also directed the Ganga Basin states to provide necessary information relating to aspects such as the extent of encroachment on rivers, demarcation of flood plains and steps taken to remove them, as soon as possible, otherwise the court would be forced to summon the chief secretaries of the defaulting states.
The matter will now be taken up in September for compliance.
