The Bombay high court on Thursday asked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to study the pollution of Godavari caused by the ‘shahi snan’ (royal bath) events during the K
The Bombay high court on Thursday asked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to study the pollution of Godavari caused by the ‘shahi snan’ (royal bath) events during the Kumbh Mela which began at Nashik on July 24 this year.
The division bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice V.L. Achliya also asked the petitioner, Pune-based professor H.M. Desarda, to prepare notes and produce it on the next date of hearing so the court could enlarge the issue of PIL.
The petitioner told the court that the issue of water crisis is very vast as every year different parts of the state was facing water shortage and a long-term plan should be evolved to solve this problem.
The bench then asked him to prepare notes on this issue. The bench has asked the NEERI to form a committee of experts, which would visit the Godavari river to study its pollution and causes and submit a report before December 11.
The court also directed the authorities not to release the water from Godavari any further as it might have been polluted after the shahi snan.
The court said the Maharashtra government and the Nashik Municipal Corporation shall take immediate measures to clean the water of Godavari, while hearing a PIL filed by Desarda challenging the government’s decision to release one TMC water for every shahi snan, saying the state was reeling under a drought-like situation.
