The Narendra Modi government, which believes itself to be efficient and hard working, got a slap on the wrist on Thursday from the Supreme Court which said it behaved like ‘Kumbhakarna’, the mythological character who loved sleeping for long periods, and 19th century story character ‘Rip Van Winkle’, who shirked hard work.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman compared the Union government to these two characters while frowning upon the ministry of environment and forests’ for failing to submit a report despite grant of two months time on the biodiversity impact of 24 hydro-electric projects on Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river basins in Uttarakhand.
“The report should have been here. It is the fault of the Union government. You are behaving like Kumbhakarna. We are at a loss to understand why the Union government has not placed the report before us. What is your intention? So much time was granted. You are like Rip van Winkle,” the bench said.
The bench said there had to be a balanced approach. “Men must live along with the fish and other aquatic creatures in the rivers on which these hydel projects are proposed to be constructed.
Some of the parties, including Bharat Jhunjhunwala and counsel for NGOs Prashant Bhushan and Colin Gonsalves, said the court had constituted a 13-member expert committee to examine the impact of these hydel projects, many of which were being constructed almost ‘bumper to bumper’ on the rivers.
Bhushan said two members, one each from Central Water Commission and Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, had given dissenting notes but the other 11 members had given a report unanimously faulting the mindless planning of hydel projects on rivers, endangering the environment and aqua-culture.
