Are court directions to stop river pollution merely regulatory, or a constitutional mandate under Article 21?

They are not to be construed as mere regulatory or administrative measures. They emanate from the constitutional mandate of the Court to secure and enforce the fundamental right to life under Article 21, which includes the right to access clean water, a pollution-free environment and conditions that uphold human dignity. Continued degradation of the river system is a serious infraction of these constitutionally protected rights.

Constitution of India - Art. 21 - Environmental degradation - River pollution - Right to clean drinking water - Polluter Pays principle - Institutional accountability - Constitution of India - Art. 21 - Access to safe drinking water - Held: The right to access clean drinking water is an integral facet of the right to life under Article 21 and cannot be compromised on account of administrative inaction or environmental neglect. The State bears a constitutional obligation to restore contaminated sources. (¶52) Constitution of India - Art. 21 - Interim directions as constitutional mandate - Held further: Directions to arrest river pollution are not mere regulatory or administrative measures. They emanate from the constitutional mandate to enforce the right to life, which includes access to clean water, a pollution-free environment and human dignity. (¶56) Environmental degradation - Concealment before the Oversight Committee - Rule of law - Held further: Levelling a riverbed, raising earthen bunds and withholding a facility from inspection to present a sanitised picture cannot be brushed aside as incidental. Such conduct erodes institutional accountability and undermines the rule of law. (¶43, 44) Polluter Pays principle - Environmental compensation - Defaulting industrial units - Held further: Where land allotted for a common effluent treatment plant lies idle and untreated effluent persists, the Board must penalise defaulting member units under the Polluter Pays principle. Interim directions issued; further status report called for. (¶48, 55)

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