E-Paper
Court seeks govt report on Ganga pollution
TAKING A serious note of the allegations made in a Public Interest Litigation petition regarding pollution and shortage of water in Ganga at Magh Mela, the Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh to file a detailed reply disclosing the steps to be taken by the State government for permanent solution of the problem. The court also directed the member secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to file a reply.
TAKING A serious note of the allegations made in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition regarding pollution and shortage of water in Ganga at Magh Mela, the Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh to file a detailed reply (counter affidavit) disclosing the steps to be taken by the State government for permanent solution of the problem.
The court also directed the member secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to file a reply (counter affidavit) on behalf of the State Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, giving details of steps taken by the UPPCB for prevention and control of pollution in the holy river.
Passing this order, a Division Bench comprising Justice Syed Rafat Alam and Justice Sudhir Agrawal directed to put up this case on January 27 for next hearing. The court lamented that every year during Magh Mela some PIL was filed making same allegations and steps were taken at the intervention of the court. This caused problems to the pilgrims.
The Court passed this order on a PIL filed by Harchetan Brahmachari Ji Mahraj of Allahabad district.
The PIL made allegations against the State government and UPPCB for not checking pollution in the Ganga during Magh Mela in Allahabad, where lakhs of pilgrims assembled to take holy dip in the river.
The PIL also requested the Court to direct the respondents to take steps against pollution in Ganga and ensure release of water from Narora Barrage regularly throughout the year.
On behalf of the State government, the additional advocate general informed the court that State government was keenly pursuing the matter which was reflected from the fact that the principal secretary of Irrigation department on Sunday had sent a letter to the authorities of Tehri for releasing 1000 cusecs water. This was being done for ensuring quality of water on the next date of bath, namely January 29, the AAG said.
