New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Saturday pulled up the Bihar government for allowing constructions of illegal buildings on the banks of river Ganga and directed it to remove encroachments in floodplains.
The apex court’s direction followed the hearing of a petition filed by one Ashok Kumar Sinha, a resident of Patna, against an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in June 2020.
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Taking serious exception to unauthorised constructions in the river’s bed, the bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Augustine George Masih ordered that no construction work should take place in the areas adjacent to the Ganga river especially in Patna and its surroundings. The bench took a critical view of the state government’s affidavit in which it had identified as many as 213 illegal constructions in the river’s bed.
During the hearing, the lawyer of Bihar government, while replying, said that 213 illegal constructions have been identified in the areas adjacent to the Ganga. Steps have been taken to remove all these encroachments and illegal constructions.
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The petitioner had challenged illegal construction of colonies, brick kilns and other structures on the banks of the river. However, the petitioner failed to impress the NGT with his pleas and the petition got rejected.
The petitioner argued in the Supreme Court that the order was passed without investigating the encroachment on the banks of river Ganga. This area gets submerged by flood waters every year. Due to illegal construction the natural course of the river is being blocked, due to which threat to lives of the people is burgeoning.
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The petitioner said that illegal construction and encroachment had a detrimental effect on biodiversity. Aquatic life is also being destroyed. Dolphin, a schedule species under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, is facing extinction. Sinha has also said in the petition that 520 acres of sensitive area from Naujar Ghat to Noorpur Ghat in Patna has been grabbed illegally.
There is a risk of floods in this area every year. The petition states that more constructions have taken place in this area since 2017.
