New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that the dumping of plastic is causing "serious environmental degradation" and also impacting "aquatic life in the river banks and the water bodies in the country".
A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti said, in the course of deliberation in this matter, it came to light that there is widespread use of plastic in the areas which are to be kept free from such pollution potential products.
"The dumping of plastic is causing serious environmental degradation and also impacting aquatic life in the river banks and the water bodies in the country," said the bench, in an order passed on August 2.
The apex court stressed that unless a concerted effort is made by the responsible authorities with people's cooperation, irrespective of the efforts to target illegal/unauthorised 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 directed the Centre to deal with the issue and suggest measures which can be taken in the matter, and file an affidavit within four weeks. "In the above circumstances, while permitting the learned ASG to file an affidavit in four weeks on the issues raised in the appeal, the response should also take into account the environmental concerns raised in the present order. Affidavit in response be also filed by the State of Bihar within the same timeline”, said the bench, in its order.
The apex court passed the order after hearing submissions from environmental activist and advocate Akash Vashishtha and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati.
The apex court was hearing an appeal arising from an order passed by the National Green Tribunal, which disposed of the application of one Ashok Kumar Sinha, a Patna resident, in 2020. The petitioner had raised the issue of illegal constructions of colonies, setting up of brick kilns and other structures, including, a 1.5 km road by the Bihar government itself, on the eco-fragile floodplains of Ganga in Patna, which constitutes one of the richest Dolphin habitats in the subcontinent.
The petitioner said that the groundwater of the areas adjacent to the Ganga River in Patna was heavily laced with Arsenic and as a consequence the purity and ecological integrity of Ganga becomes all the more pressing for sustaining 5.5 lakh population of Patna.
