In what comes as a major fillip to the efforts for revival of Rispana and Bindal rivers in Dehradun, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has stated that both these rivers fall under the Ganga basin and should be treated accordingly. Activists state that this classification will now make it harder for the authorities to legitimise illegal constructions and encroachments on these rivers.
A delegation of Dehradun-based students’ activist group Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) had met the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar earlier on March 30 requesting that the two rivers be treated as part of the Ganga basin. They stressed on the importance of Rispana and Bindal rivers which are eventual tributaries of the Yamuna river. The group said that given constant encroachment, Governmental neglect and vote bank politics, both the rivers are in a state of utter neglect.
Accepting the classification, the director of National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) of the MoEFCC, RN Jindal has written to the Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MWRRDGR), marking copies to National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) director NV Satish Seemakurti and MAD head Abhijay Negi.
Citing the group’s letter on saving the dying streams of the Doon Valley, Jindal writes that he has been directed to inform that both the Rispana and Bindal rivers fall under the Ganga basin, and that the subject matter pertains to the MWRRDGR as per Allocation of Business Rules. It will be recalled that earlier during his tenure as the Union minister for Water Resources in the UPA Government before assuming office as chief minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat had directed the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee to conduct a study to assess how the two streams could be revived. More recently, the group had also sought a Government Order banning riverbed construction and encroachment stating that both the former Chief Minister Harish Rawat and leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, Ajay Bhatt had committed in principle to the cause of reviving the two rivers. However, due to pressure from local politicians, the encroachments on these two rivers were being legitimised under State policy in gross violation of Supreme Court orders in Hinch lal Tiwari versus Kamla Devi and Jagpal Singh versus State of Punjab cases among others, said Negi. “We are glad and expect that with this classification, it will not be easy for any State Government to legitimise encroachment on Rispana and Bindal rivers,” he said.