The Bihar government is instructed by the SC to make sure that no new development is done next to the Ganga.

NEW DELHI: The Bihar government has been instructed by the Supreme Court to make sure that no more building occurs next to the Ganga River, especially in the Patna area.

Judges Aniruddha Bose and Augustine George Masih’s bench ordered the state administration to submit an affidavit notifying it of the demolition of illegal constructions that were discovered and raised on the Ganga River’s floodplains in Patna.

“When the matter is called on for hearing, counsel for the state of Bihar submits that the state has identified 213 illegal constructions adjacent to the river Ganga in and around Patna and steps have been carried out taken to remove these encroachments/constructions,” the Court said.

“The state is required to file an affidavit on that date, reporting to this court on the status of removing these unlawful constructions. The Chief Secretary of Bihar shall file such an affidavit. Additionally, the state would make sure that no new building is done next to the Ganga, especially in and around Patna, the bench stated.

The National Green Tribunal’s June 30, 2020, judgment denying Ashok Kumar Sinha’s appeal against unlawful construction and ongoing encroachment on environmentally fragile floodplains was being considered by the top court.

The argument said that the tribunal made the decision without looking into the specific information the appellant had provided about the violators encroaching on the Ganga floodplains in Patna.

The suit, submitted by attorney Akash Vashishtha, said that “the illegal and unapproved constructions and permanent development on the floodplain of Ganga are creating vast quantities of waste, noise and sewage.”

“They are increasing the risk to the lives and property of the occupants of the surrounding areas because the locations mentioned in the previous paragraphs flood every year. The river’s natural flow was being impeded by the illegitimate constructions, it stated.

According to the petition, they were negatively affecting the area’s rich biodiversity, harming the dolphins’ habitat and, consequently, jeopardizing their ability to survive as a Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.

The motion said that because the district’s groundwater was tainted with arsenic, the tribunal overlooked the necessity of a clean Ganga to supply the city’s 5.5 lakh residents with drinking and domestic water.

“A vast 520 acres of Patna’s environmentally fragile Ganga floodplain, extending from Nauzer Ghat to Nurpur Ghat, have been taken over. Every year, floods frequently occur in this area. Parts of the Takhat Shri Harmandir Sahib’s multi-story structure, which has been under construction since 2017, are still being built, the appeal stated.