Above: Ganga has witnessed a drastic level of pollution over the years (file picture).
While dealing with an application by Social Action for Forest and Environment (SAFE) regarding the closure and removal of the camps along the River Ganga from Shivpuri to Rishikesh as they were causing environmental and water pollution, the National Green Tribunal had come to know about 150 distillery units on the banks of the river that are manufacturing absolute alcohol (ethanol) adding to water pollution.
On the last hearing the NGT bench, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, had been told by the counsel of the notified distilleries that these distillery units were lying closed.
The bench had ordered the Uttar Pradesh government and the UP Pollution Control Board shall find out and inform whether this claim of being shut was factually correct.
On Monday (October 16) it was said by the counsels that even after the previous orders of the Tribunal five distilleries had not shut down.
The court asked for details to be filed and will be taken up on November 21.
The banks of the Ganga at Rishikesh have become places from where huge amount of pollution take place. The issue that started it all were camps, especially camps of religious sects including temples and ashrams which do not care about pollution norms. As the NGT started delving into the issue, other polluting issues came to the surface, including the distilleries.
The banks of the Ganga at Rishikesh were once clean and deemed excellent for holy dips, but at this point the area has become polluted. Even though not as polluted as the Ganges in the plain, this is a huge embarrassment for two states, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The NGT has been dealing with several pollution issues in this area.
—India Legal Bureau