By Our Staff Reporter
Nainital, 12 Jun: The Uttarakhand High Court today heard a PIL filed regarding non-channelisation of the Nandhaur River and other rivers of the state and against non-removal of debris from the rivers. Hearing the case, a division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal directed the state government to submit its reply in this matter within two weeks. The next hearing of the case has been fixed for 1 July.
Recognising the urgency of this issue, the court instructed petitioner BC Pokhariya to register his grievance with the Advocate General’s Office, which he promptly did. Later, he also presented a copy of the RTI received from the Advocate General’s office before the court. Today, Pokhariya emphasised the significance of the issue in court, showing an RTI response from the Advocate General’s Office. The correspondence revealed multiple reminders to the state government, dated 9 August 2023, 22 September 2023, 15 and 19 February 2024, and 10 May 10 2024, urging adherence to prior directives. He claimed that despite these letters, flood relief initiatives have not been taken by the state government as on 7 June even as the monsoon is expected soon to arrive in the state.
The Irrigation Department has also admitted in its response to the RTI queries about this and has cited non-availability of funds as the reason for no remedial action in this regard so far. It was emphasised in the court that there is little time left for the monsoon to arrive. Therefore, the matter should be heard soon.
It may be recalled that social activist Bhuvan Chandra Pokhariya, resident of Chorgalia, has filed this PIL saying that due to the soil erosion and floods in Gaula Kosi, Ganga, Dabka including Nandhaur River, the flow of the rivers is being blocked, due to which they have not been channelised yet, waterlogging and soil erosion is happening in the inhabited areas around the rivers. It was also pointed out that the earlier orders of the High Court have also not been complied with. In view of expected arrival of the monsoon soon, it is important that the earlier orders should be complied with, so that disasters can be prevented.
The Court has fixed the next date in the case on 1 July and has directed the state government to submit its response in two weeks.
It may be recalled that, last year, due to the flooding of rivers during the rainy season, thousands of hectares of forest land, trees, government schemes were affected. Due to non- channelisation of the rivers, the water flow of certain rivers turned towards the population. Due to which flood situation arose in Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Haldwani, Ramnagar, Roorkee and even in Dehradun district. Several bridges were washed away due to the flood mainly due to non-channelisation of the rivers. The administration had failed to remove the silt, boulders, debris deposited at the mouths of the rivers in time last year too, resulting in floods in many areas.
