Govt unable to assist SC in Ganga Action Plan

New Delhi, Oct 10: A shocked and surprised Supreme Court today heard silently the central government's counsel expressing his inability to assist the Court as he had no instructions in the case of Ganga Action Plan aimed at cleansing the holy river.

Counsel for the government Vijay Panjwani told the bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabhrawal that he intended to withdraw from the case as he could not make excuses everytime before the court.

Taking serious note of the callous and casual attitude of the government, the court in its order said ''this matter relates to implementation of Ganga Action Plan, the object of which was to improve water quality of the Ganga River.'' The Court also took note of the statement of Mr Panjwani that he has no instructions from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The court also took serious note of the failure of three states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal and the Centre none of which have filed the affivadit as per the orders dated March 31, seeking details of the steps taken to clean the holy river.

Other judges on the bench were Justices C K Thakker and R V Raveendran.

The court also took note of the report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for the year 2006 which said there was massive diversion of public funds released for the implementation of Ganga Action Plan.

Amicus Curiae Krishan Mahajan informed the court that Rs 900 crore of public funds have gone down the drain and the quality of Ganga water has further deteriorated to the extent of making it unfit for human consumption. He also requested the court to issue notice to the Planning Commission which is the main authority for releasing funds for various projects.

He also informed the court that only 45 per cent of the industrial units discharging chemical effluents in the Ganga river have set up effluent treatment plants. Most of them were either not working or not meeting the required standards.

The court was also informed that since 1999 the central government has even discontinued the water quality tests and the quantity of coliform in Ganga water has gone beyond intolerable limits. The court directed the Ministry of Environment and Forest and five states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, Uttranchal and Jharkhand, to file their affidavits by November 15, 2006 giving the status of Ganga water as on October 31, 2006.

The court also directed the issuance of notices to the Chief Sectaries of the five states to ensure the compliance of today's orders.

The court in its order said ''in view of total nonrepresentation of the Ministry of Environment and Forest we are at a loss to know as to what effective steps were taken to reduce the pollution levels in Ganga.'' Since the plan was repaired with a view to improve the water quality, water quality has infact deteriorated and pollution has increased.'' The court has also informed that the Ganga water is most polluted in Varanasi.

The SC also issued notices to the Centre and UP on a writ petiton filed by an advocate seeking directions of the court to take urgent steps to save the holy river from pollution in Varanasi as Ganga is the symbol of Indian culture and it could not be saved if Ganga could not be saved.

Eight central committees have been formed so far, one of them headed by the Prime Minister himself, to oversee the implementation of the plan. Stil the project had produced negative results with Rs 900 crore of public money having being diverted as a result of corruption.

The court directed the matter to be listed in November.

UNI