Supreme Court Highlights Environmental Crisis Due to Plastic Dumping in Indian Riverbanks

The Supreme Court of India has issued a stern warning about the severe environmental and ecological damage caused by the dumping of plastic along the country’s riverbanks. Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti, presiding over the case, emphasized the urgent need for a collaborative effort between authorities and the public to address this issue effectively.

During a hearing involving a plea against illegal constructions on the floodplains of the Ganga in Patna, the bench expanded its concern to the broader issue of plastic pollution affecting all water bodies across the nation. “The dumping of plastic is causing serious environmental degradation and also impacting aquatic life in the river banks and the water bodies in the country,” the justices stated. They stressed that without a united front from both governmental bodies and citizens, the goal of improving water quality in the Ganga and other rivers will remain unattainable.

The court has directed Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to file an affidavit within four weeks addressing this critical issue. Furthermore, the bench reiterated an earlier directive to the Bihar government, ensuring that no further illegal constructions or unauthorized encroachments occur adjacent to the Ganga, particularly around Patna City.

The case came to the forefront through a plea by Patna resident Ashok Kumar Sinha, who challenged a 2020 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that dismissed his concerns about illegal constructions on the Ganga’s eco-fragile floodplains. Sinha’s plea highlighted the dire consequences of these encroachments, including increased waste, noise pollution, and significant disruption to the natural flow of the river.

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According to Sinha’s plea, these activities not only pose a severe risk to human life and property due to annual flooding but also threaten the survival of local wildlife, including dolphins, which are a Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The plea also pointed out the critical need for a clean Ganga river to meet the drinking and domestic water needs of approximately 550,000 residents of Patna, especially given the contamination of local groundwater with arsenic.