The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday came down heavily on the Government for its failure to cleanise the Ganga and asked it to “tell us one place” the river was clean.
It minced no words as it said despite spending huge sums on the river, the situation has gone from bad to worse. The green panel headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar also expressed displeasure at the apathetic approach towards Ganga cleaning and said that, “We take it that almost nothing has happened in reality.”
The Tribunal said it planned to issue ‘strict directions’ with regard to cleaning up of the river in the first phase from Gomukh in Uttarakhand to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The panel, which was asked to act against industrial units polluting Ganga by the Supreme Court, said the Centre and the States over the years have only been shifting responsibility and nothing concrete was visible on the ground.
“Would you please tell us that whether it is correct that more than `5,000 crore has been spent on Ganga in making it worse from bad. We don’t want to know whether you have allotted this quantum of money to the States or have spent it yourself. Out of the 2,500 km stretch of the river Ganga, tell us one place, where the condition of the river has improved,” said the Bench.
The counsel appearing for Ministry of Water Resources told the Bench that almost `4,000 crore has been spent on the rejuvenation of the river since 1985 till last year. He said Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase-I was launched as a centrally-funded scheme in 1985 and later GAP Phase-II was initiated in 1993 to improve the river’s water quality. In 2009, ‘National Ganga River Basin Authority’ (NGRBA) was setup for pollution control in the Ganga.
To this, the Bench said, “Better be careful of what you say. We take it as almost nothing has happened in reality. It is not suddenly that we are asking for all the information from you. We have been waiting for the last one year. But for one reason or the other, you have been delaying the issue. We don’t want to comment on that. But this time we are not leaving it to your discretion, be rest assured. To clean Ganga is your prime responsibility. Days are very short for you,” the Bench said.
Asking all concerned agencies, including State Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, to give their suggestions, the green Bench said, “We will not leave our orders vacant or negotiable. We will clearly state out the responsibility of every State.”