The advocate general of Uttarakhand, SN Babulkar said that though the Supreme Court had ordered a stay on the Uttarakhand high court order of declaring the Ganga, Yamuna rivers and their tributaries as living entities, all the department concerned are required to effectively fulfill their respective tasks to prevent pollution, encroachment and littering from affecting these rivers.
Along with the chief secretary S Ramaswamy, recently the advocate general jointly undertook a meeting to review action taken on directions of the courts and green tribunal in cases filed regarding pollution, encroachment, mining, water sourcing/control and other activities linked to the Ganga and its tributaries.
The Uttarakhand high court decision of according living entity status to Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries and declaring the chief secretary, advocate general and Namami Gange mission director the "person in loco parentis" had been stayed by the Supreme Court.
However, to protect these rivers from pollution and encroachment, all the directed works should be undertaken by the departments concerned. The observance of all the rules and regulations made by the state administration regarding this and the directions issued, should be ensured by the officials concerned.
Especially in the case of sewers and contaminated water from various towns being drained into the Ganga river, for all approved proposals for construction of sewage treatment plants and diversion of nullahs under the centrally funded Namami Gange or state sector, the tender process should be expedited to start work on the ground and complete it in a time bound manner.
The urban local bodies should complete arrangements for proper garbage disposal towards prevention of the dumping of garbage in the Ganga.
The land required for such facilities should be arranged and the related plans should be prepared and approved.
At the same time work should also be expedited for clean and modern construction of bathing ghats and cremation ghats along the banks of the river. It was also stated that the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) will conduct regular monitoring and enforcement to stop pollution from industrial and commercial units.
Officials of the urban development department were also directed to facilitate required amendments in the regulations to enable implementation of the Anti littering Act in the urban as well as rural areas.