NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday expressed serious concern over the way the alleged unchecked plastic dumping and other waste materials took place on many river banks and water bodies in India.A two-judge bench of the top court, led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti, directed the Centre and Bihar government to file an affidavit in the matter within four weeks. The apex court passed the directives after hearing an appeal filed by Ashok Kumar Sinha, a Patna resident.After hearing his plea, the apex court in its order said that dumping of plastic is causing serious environmental degradation. It came to light that there is widespread use of plastic in the areas where it has to be kept free from plastics. The court also pointed out that the dumping of plastic is causing serious environment degradation and also impacting aquatic life in the river banks and the water bodies in the country. Unless concerted effort is made by the responsible authorities with people’s cooperation, irrespective of the efforts to target illegal/ unauthorized constructions, the desired improvement of the quality of the water in river Ganga/all other rivers and water bodies in the country will remain illusory,” the Apex Court said in its order. Lawyer, Akash Vashishtha, appearing for Sinha, argued that there are massive illegal constructions of colonies, setting up of brick kilns and other structures, on the ecofragile floodplains of Ganga in Patna. Further, the groundwater of the areas adjacent to the Ganga River in Patna was heavily laced with Arsenic and therefore, the purity and ecological integrity of Ganga becomes all the more pressing for sustaining 5.5 lacs population of Patna.”It is in complete violation of the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection & Management) Authorities Order, 2016, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,” Vashishtha argued.Raising serious issues of violations that took place, he said that most of the Ganga basin states are taking completely arbitrary approaches in demarcating their floodplains, which are contrary to the Ganga Authorities Order, 2016. The Supreme Court had, earlier, during hearings in the matter, indicated that it may increase the ambit of the case to include the floodplains of all 11 Ganga basin states.
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