SC seeks report from NGT-appointed panel on cleaning of river Yamuna

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Tuesday sought a report from a committee, set up by the NGT, on its recommendations for improving the water quality of the Yamuna river and the extent to which the authorities have implemented them.

The National Green Tribunal, on July 26, 2018, had constituted the monitoring committee comprising its former expert member B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra on the cleaning of the Yamuna and had directed it to submit an action plan in this regard.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took note of the submission of amicus curiae and senior advocate Meenakshi Arora that the NGT-appointed panel has been monitoring the cleaning of Yamuna water.

In the proceedings conducted through video conferencing, the bench, also comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and Vineet Saran, asked the committee to submit its report on recommendations made by it for improving the quality of water of Yamuna and the extent to which they have been implemented.

Earlier, the top court had taken suo motu cognizance of contamination of rivers by effluent in the country and had decided to take up the pollution of Yamuna river first.

While taking cognisance of contamination of rivers, the top court had said that the pollution-free water is a fundamental right which a welfare state is "bound to ensure".

It had asked Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to submit a report identifying municipalities along the Yamuna which have not installed total treatment plants for sewage.