Welcoming the recent High Court decisions according living entity status to Ganga, Yamuna rivers and subsequently to Himalayan glaciers and water bodies emerging therefrom, the Matu Jansangathan has opined that this in some way this also questions the role of the Government in this sphere so far. Further, there was no mention of dams in the High Court order whereas the issue of dams cannot be ignored if one is to preserve rivers and enable their free flow, said Vimal Bhai of Matu Jansangathan.
Addressing the media, he said that the concern of the courts reflects the failure of the Central and State Governments. He said that delivering its judgement in the case of Mohammed Salim versus the State of Uttarakhand and others, the High Court bench comprising justices Rajiv Sharma and Alok Singh, in the 19th point of the decision accorded living entity status to the Ganga, Yamuna rivers, according legal status to all their tributaries, source streams and natural flowing water bodies. Furthering its decision, the High Court also according living entity status to the State’s glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, meadows and jungles. “In the court order of March 20 and after that, there is no clear mention of dams which provides the Government an escape from the question of dams. Also, the order says nothing about the rights of the people connected to the river, which is a cause of concern for us. It is proven that dams exert a negative impact on flowing rivers, glaciers, lakes-waterfalls, grasslands and jungles. Free-flow of the river has to be ensured to make the river clean. This responsibility of the Government has now become clear after the orders of the court. However, considering the observance of past orders of the court regarding the Ganga, the observance of the recent orders appears uncertain. The Ganga was declared the national river in 2008. Thousands of crores of rupees were spent under the Ganga Action Plan, criticising which the Bharatiya Janata Party government launched the Namami Gange mission. Environmental clearance for the Tehri dam was granted on condition of formation of the Bhagirathi river valley authority which has not been able to function properly till date. There is no talk of dams in the Ganga valley in the Namami Gange mission either.”
Stating that all “river-lovers” had welcomed the high court decisions, he expressed concern stating that those who have been accorded the responsibility of implementing the decision are working under the government which has elicited much concern with its way of functioning. He further said that the Central and State Governments should clear their stance on the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone while also stating to which extent will the governments put a curb on dams. He also questioned whether any action will be taken now against the dam proponent companies for blatant environmental violations.