Over the last three decades, the Supreme Court has attempted to goad the administration to act on a number of issues ranging from mining in the catchment area through pollution to encroachments on the river bed. The Court acknowledges, however that its directives have failed to rid the administration of its apathy towards the river. This section deals with the following cases:
This section concerns itself with the various cases dealt with by the state high courts on the Yamuna. The issues are as follows:
The author concludes with saying that revival of the Yamuna is a judicial challenge, which the Courts have tried to meet by putting forth several solutions including stipulating minimum flows in the river; segregation of wastes; erection of sewage treatment plants; directing that no dumping of garbage should take place; regulating slaughter houses and removing slums and encroachments from the river bed. However, the judicial activism over the Yamuna struggles with apathy on the part of the bureaucracy with the court directives being met with lip service and little else.
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This report was part of a project titled Mainstreaming the river as a popular civil action ‘cause’ through “motivating actions for the revival of the people – river close links as a precursor to citizen’s mandated actions for the revival of the life-line river in the city”.
Read the entire report here
Other relevant reports on the issue are here: