M.K BALAKRISHNAN & OTHERSversusUNION OF INDIA & OTHERS

                              [2009] 4 S.C.R 1190


A                     M.K BALAKRISHNAN & OTHERS
                                         v
                        UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS
                       Writ Petition(C) No. 230 of 2001
                               MARCH 26, 2009
B
              [MARKANDEY KAT JU AND B. SUDERHSAN
                          REDDY, JJ]

    ENVIRONMENTAL LAW:
c       Preservation of environment and maintaining the
  ecology - protection of wet land - Need to maintain water
  conservation bodies such as ponds, tanks, small lakes etc.,
  emphasized - Notice Issued to newly added States - Notice
  a/so issued to Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology,
D Union of India to file counter affidavit stating as to what
  measures are being taken to solve water shortage problem in
  the country and for implementing the recommendations made
                                                         1
  by the Court in State of Orissa vs. Government of /ndia .
            Hinch Lal Tiwari vs. Kamala Devi AIR SC 3215 - referred
E to.
                            Case Law Reference
            AIR 2001 SC 3215             referred to      para 9

F        CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (Civil)
    No(s). 230 of 2001
         [UNDER ARTICLE 32 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF
    INDIA]
      Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Radhakrishna Kumar,
G Parmanand Pandey, Naresh Kumar, for the Appellants.
            Manish Singhvi, Manjit Singh, and Shail Kumar Dwivedi,

    1
        2009 ( 1) SCR 992 = JT 2009 (2) SC 233

H                                      1190
                  M.K. BALAKRISHNAN & OTHERS V                  1191
                     UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS

      AAGs, R. Shunmugh Sundram, R. Shunmugasundaram. S.R.             A
      Singh, T.S.Doabia, Anuvrat Sharma,Alka Sinha, Sunita Sharma,
      B.V Balaram Das, Riku Sarma, (for M/s Corporate Law Group),
      Avijit Bhattacharjee, Saumya Kundu, Kamini Jaiswal, Pinky
      Behera. Hemantika Wahi, Radha Shyam Jena, Naresh K.
      Sharma, Aruna Mathur, Vimal Dubay, Arputham Aruna & Co..         B
      Khwairakpam Nobin Singh, Sangitaa Singh, Manish Kumar,
      Gopal Singh, B.S.Banthia, Milind Kumar, R.S.Suri, Ranjan
      Mukherjee, Sunita Hazarika, R.Ayyam Perumal, Anil Shrivastav,
      K.N.Madhusoodhanan, M.K.Michael, R. Nedumaran,
      V.G.Pragasam, S.J.Aristotle, Prabu Rama Subramanian,             C
      P.V.Dinesh, Sindhu T.P., Tabrez Ahmad, Anis Suhrawardy, Anil
      Kumar Jha, Sanjay R.Hegde, A.Rohen Singh, Edward Belho,
      Rituraj Biswas, P.Athuimei R. Naga, A.Subhashini, Manoj
      Saxena, Rajnish K. Singh, Rahul Shukla, Sanjay V.Kharde, Asha
      G.Nair, T.Harish Kumar, Harikesh Singh, Kamal Mohan Gupta,       D
      for the Respondents.
           The following Order of the Court was delivered


            Heard learned counsel for the parties.                     E

           Pursuant to this Court's order dated 26th February, 2009,
    • the Chief Secretaries, State of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are
      personally present in the Court. Their personal presence is
      dispensed with unless directed in future.                        F
            The present Writ Petition under Article 32 of the
      Constitituion of India relates to conservation of wet lands which
      in our opinion would include ponds, tanks, canals, creeks, water
      channels, reservoirs, rivers, streams and lakes. Although, the
~     writ petition as framed related to protection of wetlands in the G
      country for preservation of the environment and maintaining the
      ecology, we have suo motu expanded its scope as mentioned
      below.
            There is acute shortage of water in our country and one of H
    1192      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2009] 4 S.C.R.


A   the main reasons for that is that most of the water conservation
    bodies in our country such as ponds, tanks. small lakes etc.
    have been filled up in recent times by some greedy persons
    and such persons have constructed buildings, shops etc. on
    the same.
B
          Our ancestors were wise people who realised that because
    of droughts or some other reasons there may be shortage of
    water in future and hence they made the provision of a pond
    near every village, tanks in or near temples. etc .. The whole idea
    behind this was that whenever there is a shortage of water due
C   to drought etc., people may not suffer and they may use the
    water available in ponds, tanks etc. Unfortunately, people have
    forgotten the wisdom of our ancestors and that is why some
    greedy people for their personal interest and to make money
    have filled up most of these ponds, tanks etc. and have
D   constructed buildings thereon with the result that in most parts
    of India, there is a terrible water shortage and people are
    suffering terribly, particularly, in the summer season both in rural
    and urban areas. When water is not available, people come to
    the streets and there are chakka jams (road blocks), riots etc.
E   to awaken the government authorities to take some measures
    to make available the necessity of life to the general public
    called water.

        In many cities, in many colonies, people get water for half
  an hour in a day and sometimes not even that e.g. in Delhi,
F Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, U.P., Northeast etc. In large parts of rural
  areas there is a shortage of water for irrigation and drinking
  purpose. Rivers in India are drying up, ground water is being
  rapidly depleted and canals are polluted. The Yamuna in Delhi
  looks like a black drain. Several perennial rivers like the Ganga
G and Bahamputra are rapidly becoming seasonal. Rivers are                 ~
  dying or declining, and acquifers are getting over-pumped.
  Industries, hotels, etc. are pumping out groundwater at an
  alarming rate, causing sharp decline in the groundwater levels.
  Farmers are having a hard time finding ground water for their
H crops e.g. in Punjab. In many'places there are serpentine queu8s
                    M.K. BALAKRISHNAN & OTHERS V.                     1193
                       UNION OF !NOIA & OTHERS

    of exhausted housewives waiting for hours to fill their buckets of A
    water. In this connection, John Briscoe has authored a detailed
    World Bank report, in which he has mentioned that despite this
    alarming situation there is widespread complacency on the part
    of the authorities in India.

           This Court in State of Orissa vs. Government of India &           B
     Another, JT 2009 (2) SC 233, in which one of us [Hon'ble Mr.
     Justice Markandey Katju] was a member, while agreeing fully
     with the reasoning and directions of the other Hon'ble Judge on
    the Bench Hon'ble Altamas Kabir, J., has recommended to the
     Central Government to immediately constitute a body of eminent          C
    scientists in the field who should be requested to do scientific
     research in this area on a war footing to find out scientific ways
    and means of solving the water shortage problem in the country.
     It was also recommended that the said body shall be given all
\
    the financial, technical and administrative help by the Central          D
    and State Governments for this purpose. The help and advice
    of foreign scientific experts and/or Indian scientists settled
    abroad who are specialized in this field may also be taken, since
    the solution to the problem will not only help India but also foreign
    countries which are facing the same problem, some of which               E
    may already have progressed significantly in this area. The
    present known methods e.g. distillation or reverse osmosis are
    very expensive. We have to find out cheaper methods and this
    is possible only by scientific research on a war footing. The said
    body of scientists was requested to, inter alia, perform the             F
    following tasks:
         (i) to find out an inexpensive method or methods of
         converting saline water into fresh water.
         (ii) to find out an inexpensive and practical method of G
         utilizing the water, which is in the form of ice, in the
         Himalayas.
         (iii) to find out a viable method of utilizing rain water.
         (iv) to utilize the flood water by harnessing the rivers so         H
    1194       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                       [2009] 4 S.C.R


A          that the. excess water in the floods, may instead of causing
           damage, be utilized for the people who are short of water,
           or be stored in reservoirs for use when there is drought

           In the said decision the Court also observed:

B           "42. It is indeed sad that a country like India which solved
           the problem of town planning 6000 years ago in the Indus
           Valley Civilization and which discovered the decimal
           system in Mathematics and Plastic Surgery in Medicine
           in ancient times, and is largely managing Silicon Valley in
c          U.S.A. today has been unable to solve the problem of
           water shortage till now. In my opinion there is no dearth of
           eminent scientists in the field who can solve this problem,
           but they have not been organized and brought together
           and not been requested by the Central and State
D          Governments to solve this problem, nor given the facilities
           for this.

            43.ln my opinion the right to get water is a part of right to
           life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. In this
           conne11tion, it has been observed in Delhi Water Supply &
E          Sewage Disposal Undertaking and Anr. vs. State of
           Haryana and Ors. [JT 1996 (6) SC 107; 1996 (2) SCC
           572]:

           "Water is a gift of nature. Human hand cannot be permitted
           to convert this bounty into a curse, an oppression. The
F
           primary use to which water is put being drinking, it would
           be mocking nature to force the people who live on the
           bank of a river to remain thirsty" .....

           44. Similarly in Chameli Singh & Ors. v. State of U.P. &
G          Ors. [JT 1995 (9) SC 380. 1996 (2) SCC 549] this Court
           observed:

            " ..... Right to live guaranteed in any civilized society implies
           the right to food, water, decent environment, education,
           medical care and shelter. These are basic human rights
H          known to any civilized society. All civil. political, social and
           M.K. BALAKRISHNAN & OTHERS V                   1195
              UNION OF /NOIA & OTHERS

     cultural rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of A
     Human Rights and Convention or under the Constitution
     of India cannot be exercised without these basic human
     rights" .....
      In Hinch Lal Tiwari vs. Kamala Devi, AIR 2001S.C.3215,
                                                                 8
this Court observed (vide paragraphs 13 and 14):
     "13. It is important to note that material resources of the
     community like forests, tanks, ponds, hillock, mountain
     etc. are nature's bounty. They maintain delicate ecological
     balance. They need to be protected for a proper and healthy c
     environment which enable people to enjoy a quality life
     which is essence of the guaranteed right under Article 21
     of the Constitution. The Government, including revenue
     authorities, i.e. respondents 11 to 13, having noticed that
     a pond is falling in disuse, should have bestowed their D
     attention to develop the same which would, on one hand,
     have prevented ecological disaster and on the other
     provided better environment for the benefit of public at
     large. Such vigil is the best protection against knavish
     attempts to seek allotment in non-abadi sites.
                                                                 E
    14.For the aforementioned reasons, we set aside the
    order of the High Court, restore the order of the Additional
    Collecto~ dated February 25, 1999 confirmed by the
    Commissioner on March 12, 1999. Consequently,
    respondents 1 to 10 shall vacate the land, which was F
    allotted to them, within six months from today. they will,
    however, be permitted to take awar the material of the
    houses which they have constructed on the said land. If
    responaents 1 to 10 do not vacate the land within the said
    period the official respondents i.e. respondents 11 to 13 G
    shall demolish the construction and get possession of the
    said land in accordance with law. The State including
    respondents 11 to 13 shall restore the pond, develop and
    maintain the same as a recreational spot which will
    undoubtedly be in the best interest of the villagers. Further H
    1196       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                   [2009) 4 S.C.R


A          it will also help in maintaining ecological balance and
           protecting environment in regard to which this Court has
           repeatedly expressed its concern. Such measures must
           begun at the grass-root level if they were to become the
           nation's pride."
B
          Let notice be issued to the Secretary, Ministry of Science
    and Technology, Union of India which will file its counter affidavit
    within four weeks stating what measures are being taken to solve
    the water shortage problem in the country and for implementing
    the recommendation of Hon'ble Markandey Katju, J. in the
C   aforesaid decision in State of Orissa vs. Government of India &
    Another, JT 2009 (2) SC 233.

         The application for impleadment is allowed. Let notice
    issue to the newly added States.

           List this matter on 28th April, 2009.                           •

    R.P.                                            Matter adjourned.