State, Board must protect Vaishno Devi shrine, environment: SC

The Supreme Court today took note of the problem of pollution in the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and the surrounding areas and made it clear that the Jammu and Kashmir government and the shrine board would have to "protect and preserve" both.

 A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also asked them to protect the pony and mule owners, who are operating there for a long time ferrying devotees to and from the shrine, and look into issues of their rehabilitation on "humanitarian grounds".

The bench, after perusing some recent pictures of waste dumped in Banganga river near the shrine, observed that if the photographs were true, then there were lot of problems which needed to be looked into.

"It is very clear that you have to preserve and protect the shrine and protect the environment also. You will also have to protect the mule owners. We do not know whether you are looking at it (issue of rehabilitation) on humanitarian grounds," the bench observed.

Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh and advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for Jammu and Kashmir, said the plan for rehabilitation of pony and mule owners was to go before the sub-committee of the Cabinet, but as of now, there was no government in the state which is under Governor's Rule.

"The sub-committee was constituted, but before they could look into the issue of rehabilitation, the government fell in the state," they said.

Singh also told the bench that NGT was also looking into some of the aspects relating to the shrine and has passed several orders. The lawyers for Jammu and Kashmir said that since the apex court was seized of the matter, the NGT should not proceed with the case pending there.The counsel for activist Gauri Maulekhi, who had filed a plea in the NGT seeking removal of horses and mules from the path to the shrine, placed before the bench the recent pictures of Banganga river. and said waste was being dumped into the river causing environmental degradation.