The Supreme Court banned any construction or development within 100 m of the Jojari River in Rajasthan on Monday. The court also prohibited hazardous industries within 500 m of either side of the existing flood line along the river’s flow path.
This was the latest in a series of interventions by a Bench of Supreme Court Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta to protect the seasonal river, which has faced a deluge of contamination impacting the lives of two million people in the water-starved State. It added that the State authorities would have to consider relocating industries away from the river in the long run. On August 4, the apex court recommended that the Rajasthan Government prepare a 20-point resolution plan to deal with the issue of contamination in the Jojari, Bandi and Luni rivers in the State. The court posted the next hearing on September 22.
The Supreme Court said that the entire industrial area in Pali was located along the riverbank. “We consider it necessary, as an additional interim safeguard, to direct that no hazardous industry or activity having the potential to cause pollution, contamination or other damage to the riverine ecosystem shall be permitted within a distance of 500 metres on either side of the existing flood line, wherever such flood line has been identified, or the present flow path of the river until completion of the scientific exercise for determination and demarcation of the high flood line and the requisite ecological buffer zones,” the order read out in open court said.
The court earlier directed the Rajasthan Government to constitute within a week an ‘Integrated Coordination Group’ (ICG) headed by the Chief Secretary to deal with the issue of contamination in the Jojari, Bandi and Luni rivers.
