"Dumping of plastic causing serious environment degradation, impacting aquatic life": Supreme Court

New Delhi [India], August 6 : The Supreme Court has remarked 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 of justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti made these remarks recently while dealing with the matter relating to alleged illegal construction and unauthorized encroachment in and around the areas adjacent to the river Ganga in Patna City.
The court noted that in the course of deliberation in this matter, it came to light that there is widespread use of plastic in the areas that 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," the court said.
"Unless a 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 court said.
The court has sought an affidavit from the Centre 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, the court said.
The court was hearing an appeal arising from an NGT Order that disposed of the Original Application of Ashok Kumar Sinha, a Patna resident, in 2020, raising massive 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 Dolphins habitat in the subcontinent.
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 the 5.5 lacs population of Patna.
The Appeal was filed, agitating complete violation of the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection & Management) Authorities Order, 2016, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Arguing for the Appellant, Akash Vashishtha, Advocate told the court that the areas upstream and downstream of the stretch between Nauzer Ghat to Nurpur Ghat comprised one of the richest Dolphins habitats which was being threatened with these illegal constructions on the Ganga riverbed and floodplains.
The NMCG has written to all Ganga basin states to identify illegal constructions on their floodplains and remove such obstructions and demarcate such floodplains. That status needs to be known advocate Vashishtha submitted.
Advocate Azmat Hayat Amanullah appeared for the State of Bihar and Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the Union of India and National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).