The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and others on a plea against unauthorised constructions and encroachments on the riverbeds, floodplains and catchments of all rivers. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra sought a response from the Environment Ministry, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Central Water Commission and the Central Pollution Control Board.
The bench has sought their responses within three weeks. The plea has stated that increasing illegal and unauthorised constructions and encroachments on the floodplains and catchments of rivers and water courses have become the biggest cause of devastation across the country. The petition was filed by former IPS officer Dr Ashok Kumar Raghav through advocate Akash Vashishtha, and sought directions to demolish all unauthorised constructions and encroachments on the riverbeds, floodplains and catchments of all rivers, water courses and water channels, including the tributaries and restore the same to their original forms.
It referred to the Composite Water Management Index report prepared by the Niti Aayog and said India is suffering from the "worst water crisis in its history". "According to a reply tendered by the minister of state for Jal Shakti in Lok Sabha on March 23 last year, the per capita water availability in the country is fast reducing due to increasing population." Notifying the 2015 draft of the River Conservation Zone (RCZ) Regulation without any further delay and demarcation of the floodplains of all rivers, water courses and water channels within a time-bound period not exceeding three months, urged the petition.
The draft River Regulation Zones (RRZ) notification proposed to establish River Conservation Zones (RCZs) to prevent encroachments on rivers and floodplains. The petition sought the intervention of the court in "granting legal protection to all the rivers, including the tributaries, thereof, as well as water courses and water channels, and the floodplains and catchments, thereof, so as to ensure water and ecological security for the people of the country".