Order of the Supreme Court regarding removal of the encroachments from the river bed/flood plain zone of river Rispana, Uttarakhand, 10/02/2025
Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of State of Uttarakhand & Others Vs Niranjan Bagchi & Others dated 10/02/2025.
The state of Uttarakhand has appealed against the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order. The NGT directed Uttarakhand to initiate appropriate legislative and executive measures within one month for removal of the encroachments from the river bed/flood plain zone of river Rispana.
The question before the NGT was whether the 20 encroachments (which the state claims came into being before March 11, 2016) are protected by the state acts called Uttarakhand Reforms, Regularization, Rehabilitation and Resettlement and Prevention of Encroachment of the Slums located in the Urban Local Bodies of the State Act, 2016 and clause 5 thereof as well as the Uttarakhand Special Provisions for Urban Bodies and Authorities Act, 2018.
The Tribunal has taken the view in the order that the notification dated October 07, 2016 of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation issued under sections of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 would prevail and in view of the Clause 6(3) thereof, the 20 admitted encroachments would also have no protection notwithstanding the acts of the state legislature. In the light of the finding, necessary directions were given to carry out legislative amendments and to issue executive directions.
The contention of the state before SC was that Clause 6(3) of the notification dated October 7, 2016 has a second proviso, which mandates that, for completed constructions, before removal, a review is to be done by the National Mission for Clean Ganga. The court was informed that the NGT had not directed its attention towards the second proviso to Clause 6(3).
The Supreme Court, February 10, 2025 directed Uttarakhand to go back to the NGT and move an application before the tribunal, bringing to its attention the second proviso to Clause 6(3) and for seeking appropriate directions. The SC directed the needful to be done within two weeks. The NGT order has been kept in abeyance for a period of three weeks.