JAIPUR:
Rajasthan High Court on Thursday directed the chief secretary to present an action plan to comply with the directions of the court order of 2012 on restoration of water bodies in the state.
The division bench of Justice M N Bhandari and D C Somani was hearing a suo motu contempt petition on the restoration of water bodies by removing encroachment, including the
Ramgarh dam in Jaipur.
The court had summoned the chief secretary to the court on Thursday as to know the reason for the non-implementation of the court order of 2012 despite a lapse of six years.
The court in this final verdict on
Ramgarh dam case, had ordered the state government to remove all encroachments from water bodies across the state and cancel the illegal land allotments made since 1955, the date on which
Rajasthan Land Tenancy Act came in to force.
The court observed that most of the water bodies are not receiving water due to encroachment and the few getting water are non-useable even for animals as all the pollutants are being flowed to these water bodies.
The court observed that the government and administration has totally failed in the upkeep of the water bodies. The court asked, “What action has been initiated against the delinquent officials for their dereliction of duties.” It has observed that action has remained only on paper and nothing has seen on the ground, said the court.
The court warning of severe action said now that not junior officials, but senior officials of the concerned department would be taken to task if the court order is neglected. It warned that the court will not hesitate to send the errant senior officials to jail. The court observed that while the dams went dry, money has only wasted in the name of water conservation.
The court pulled up the chairman of the pollution control board for its failure to make it functional the Sewage Treatment plants (STPs) and installing low capacity STPs leading to the pollution of water bodies.
Ramgarh dam
