File suo motu case on polluted Rajasthan river, says SC
The Supreme Court initiated a case on pollution in Rajasthan's Jojari river due to industrial waste, impacting villagers' health and water safety.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered registration of a suo motu case on the pollution caused by discharge of industrial waste into Rajasthan’s Jojari river as the court noted that discharge of industrial waste was posing a health hazard for villagers dependent on it.
A bench of justices VIkram Nath and Sandeep Mehta took up the case for consideration and directed the Registry to place the matter before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for assigning the matter to an appropriate bench.
The bench said, “This court is taking suo motu cognizance with respect to river Marudhara Jojari river in Rajasthan where a lot of industrial waste primarily from textile and tile factories is being discharged making hundreds of villages and the drinking water for animals and humans not potable.”
The court did not reveal whether the cognizance is based on any letter received by the court or a news report unlike in previous cases where the same bench took suo motu cognizance of a news report on functional CCTVs in police stations as the report pointed out that in the past eight months this year, the state of Rajasthan witnessed 11 cases of custodial deaths in police custody.
The Jojari river flows through Jodhpur and enters Barmer and continues to join the Luni river. The river originates from the hills of Pundlu village of Nagaur district in Rajasthan and is the longest river among the tributaries of Luni, with a total length of 150 kilometres.
The pollution in Jojari river is not a new phenomenon as several reports by the Rajasthan pollution control board have confirmed the presence of untreated sewage and industrial waste in high proportions. This water is used by farmers for sowing crops leading to potential health hazards.
