Supreme Court stays Uttarakhand High Court order declaring Ganga, Yamuna as living

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the controversial Uttarakhand High Court order declaring Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries as living entities. The High Court had on March 20, 2017, declared these rivers as living persons with rights akin to other living entities. The high court had also banned all mining on the river bed and directed eviction of encroachers. That order cast a huge burden on the state government which was expected to take care of it like a human being and be accountable for its upkeep and preservation.

The order came on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which had sought removal of illegal encroachments from the river bed. The state government immediately appealed against the judgement, saying that the ruling would make the state solely accountable for its upkeep and preservation when the rivers passed through several states. The central government should then be charged with the task, it said.