SC disappointed with Ganga cleaning, asks Centre to submit progress affidavit

Disappointed with efforts taken for the cleanliness of river Ganga, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Central Government to submit an affidavit showing the progress report on October 29.

Advocate Vijay Panjwani said the Supreme Court was disappointed that not much has happened about Ganga cleaning, and added that the apex court is now firm and wants to know the vision of the Centre. He further said the Centre has to give an affidavit of the progress that has been made on October 29.

"The Supreme Court today for two hours heard the matter of Ganga cleaning and was very sad and dismayed to find that in all these years nothing much has happened. So, now the apex court is very firm in finding what is the vision of the Central Government. They want a power point presentation in court and at least 15-20 minutes presentation by a person of technical knowledge who will give the vision of Ganga," said Panjwani.

"All the meetings that the Central Government has had in last four months with the central pollution control board and state pollution control board and other specialized agencies, all the decisions taken by these committees during these meetings will now be implemented and on the next date that is on October 29 the Centre has to give an affidavit stating what decisions were taken and what progress has been made," Panjwani added.

He also said that the Central Pollution Control Board has also been asked to give a status report on the inspections done during June 2014 because some progress must have been made in three months.

Earlier in September, the Supreme Court had expressed dissatisfaction with the government's affidavit on the Ganga cleaning projects and had directed it to file fresh affidavits within the next two weeks.

Cleaning up the Ganga has been one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet projects since he came to power and is a topic that he discussed during his recent visit to Japan.