Environmentalists, advocates and a section of the seers have come together on one platform to raise awareness among the people regarding what they termed as the ‘vested interests’ of the Centre and the State Government in challenging Uttarakhand High Court’s landmark order to accord ‘living human entity’ status to Ganga and Yamuna rivers.
Notably, the Centre has moved Supreme Court over the State High Court’s March 20 order to accord ‘living human entity’ status to Ganga, citing administrative issues coming in the way of the execution of the order. The State Government is also a party to the petition moved in the Supreme Court, saying that as Ganga flows through several states aside from Utarakhand it is not right to leave things to the Uttarakhand government alone.
A division bench of Justices Rajeev Sharma and Alok Singh of the High Court had declared the two rivers as living entities on the line of Whanganui river, revered as a deity by the indigenous Maori tribe of New Zealand, being given the same status by the Government there. The court order had come following a PIl filed by a Haridwar resident Mohammad Salim who had expressed his concern over pollution and encroachment of the river and its tributaries with mining and stone crushing activities along the banks of Ganga going on in full swing.
Speaking to The Pioneer, an advocate M C Pant who is former president of Uttarakhand High Court Bar Association, said, “Citing administrative issues by the Centre to scuttle the High Court order is merely an attempt to confuse the apex court while seeking to divert attention from the main issues. It is clear that the Centre and the State Government are seeking to shield the mining mafias at the expense of the sacred rivers.”
A noted social worker J P Badoni warned of launching a full-blown people’s movement against the Government on the issue. “We would not allow them to circumvent the state High Court’s order which is a landmark one in saving Ganga and Yamuna rivers from being destroyed by the greed of the mining mafias and their patrons,” he said.
The religious bodies have also started being vocal on the issue. A member of Badrinath Kedarnath Mandir Samiti, Diwakar Chamoli said that it was wrong on the part of the state government to challenge the historic order of the state High Court, citing administrative/technical difficulties coming in the way of its right execution. “The spirit behind the order is what is important,” he said.
Meanwhile, Swami Shivanand, the seer and the head of Matri Sadan, has started what he termed as his tapasya (self- restraint) on Wednesday against the state government’s decision to resume mining in Ganga. His disciple Atmabodhananda having ended his 11-day fast, Shivanand has himself taken the lead of the anti-mining movement by undertaking fast. He again demanded suspension of three senior state officials and the district magistrate against whom Matri Sadan had moved a petition in the state High Court.
The seer said, “With mining being carried out beyond the permissible limits with impunity, the state government is choosing to look the other way. The district magistrate himself having mentioned the fact in his inspection report has failed to move the State Government.”
He also tore into RSS again, billing it as one working against Hindu Dharma, contrary to its professing as its saviour. “Whenever people with RSS background runs the Government in the state they invariably turn hostile against Matri Sadan, an outfit that is struggling to save the sanctity of the holy rivers. Despite the much- vaunted Namami Gange project being executed, Ganga in its stretch of over 2500 kms across different states remains as polluted as ever,” he said.