Order of the Supreme Court of India regarding mitigation of the flood problem for the entire Ghaggar basin, 29/04/2019
Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Nagar Panchayat Moonak & Other Vs The State of Punjab & Others dated 29/04/2019 regarding mitigation of the flood problem for the entire Ghaggar basin.
Taking note of the problem of flood experienced by agriculturalists from 25 villages due to overflowing of river Ghaggar, the SC had directed both the states of Haryana and Punjab to cooperate with the Ghaggar Standing Committee to ensure that a Mathematical Model Study be conducted by Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune. An order was passed on 11.3.2019 by the Court directing the CWPRS, Pune to complete the study and place a report before the Court within a period of six weeks to avoid flooding of agricultural land in 25 villages for this year.
It has come to the notice of the SC, that the State of Punjab has not been supplying the necessary information and is not willing to share the expense for the study, which according to the Additional Solicitor General is Rs.20,00,000/-. The SC also takes note of the fact that the Special Leave Petition has been pending since 2013. The SC directs Punjab to remit Rs. 20,00,000/- to CWPRS within a week and cooperate with the CWPRS by supplying all relevant documents required. Further, the CWPRS has been directed to expedite the study and submit a report to the Court by July.