Ganga and Yamuna declared living beings by Uttarakhand High Court, parents appointed for rivers

The ruling means that the Ganga and Yamuna rivers will be treated as humans and if anyone is found polluting the rivers, it would be equivalent to harming humans.

Published: March 21, 2017 2:15 PM IST

By Sagar Patra

Ganga and Yamuna declared living beings by Uttarakhand High Court, parents appointed for rivers

Nainital, March 21: For the first time in the country, the Uttrakhand High Court on Monday ruled that the Ganga and Yamuna are legal and living bodies. The ruling means that the Ganga and Yamuna rivers will be treated as humans and if anyone is found polluting the rivers, it would be equivalent to harming humans.  The court said that the move was to ensure the “preservation and conservation of the two rivers and to protect the recognition and faith of society”.

A division bench of Justices Alok Singh and Rajiv Sharma noted that the Ganga and Yamuna rivers are losing their value as spiritual rivers. The order passed by Uttrakhand high court will have effects that are not only limited to humans but will also impact the habitat.

“The order will give a new dimension to the laws framed for the protection of the environment,” said senior lawyer K H Gupta. The measure hasn’t been introduced for the first time in the world, though, with Whanganui river of New Zealand also getting the status of a living entity with full legal rights recently.

“All the Hindus have deep ‘astha’ in the Ganga and the Yamuna and they collectively connect with these rivers.The rivers are central to the existence of half of the Indian population and their health and well-being. They have provided both physical and spiritual sustenance to all of us from time immemorial,” the judges said.

The court named the director of Namami Gange, who also serves as the chief secretary of Uttarakhand and the advocate general of the state, as parents of the rivers. The duo will deal with all the legal formalities and functions related to the Ganga and Yamuna.

The state of Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand are not cooperating with the central government for the constitution of a Ganga Management Board. As part of its judgement, the High Court has now ordered that the central government make the Ganga Management Board functional within the next three months.

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