Nainital, Apr 15 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday ordered the removal of debris from the Rispana river besides seasonal streams, and the identification of unauthorised constructions on water bodies in the Vikas Nagar area of Dehradun district.

The order was issued by a bench comprising Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mehra while hearing three PILs filed by Dehradun residents Urmila Thapa, Renu Paul and Ajay Narayan Sharma.

It was alleged in the PILs that the constant dumping of debris in the rivers and streams has led to encroachment. It was also killing the local and seasonal streams that contribute to the Rispana river, the PILs said.

The court had passed a similar order earlier too saying that the debris should be removed as it is a question of the survival of future generations.

The same bench of the high court had said, “If we continue with this, the future generations will curse us”.

The Chief Justice also said these streams help in preventing landslides. If the debris keeps piling up, the streams will go haywire, causing floods, land erosion and landslides.

RK Sudhanshu, principal secretary (forest), Nitesh Jha, secretary (urban development), Surendra Narayan Pandey, secretary (revenue) also attended the hearing via video conferencing.

In an affidavit filed by the secretaries and the municipal corporation, it was said that by the end of June, all structures will be removed subject to the review of the environmental board.

The court said the main issues of the PIL were related to the removal of debris from seasonal streams as well as rivers and identifying the structures that were constructed on water bodies.

The High Court asked the officials to conduct a survey to identify such structures built on water bodies and remove them.

The court also suggested the use of GPS to identify such structures.

While the Advocate General claimed that a similar matter has also been addressed by the NGT, the chief standing counsel pointed out that Namami Gange Project protects water bodies.

The High Court said that any construction without the sanctioned plan should be stopped.

Sanctions granted to individuals in the vicinity of the said rivers be produced before the court for scrutiny, the court said.

It also asked the officials to produce a survey report of the Vikas Nagar area before the court. PTI Cor ALM RT