Tazuddin Ahmed and 4 Ors v. The Union of India and 8 Ors

ORDER Date : 02/08/2024 Vijay Bishnoi, CJ

Heard Mr. A.R. Sikdar, learned counsel for the petitioners. We have also heard Mr. R.K.D. Choudhury, learned DSGI, Mr. R.M. Das, learned Standing Counsel, Water Resources Department, Assam and Mr. D.K. Sarmah, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam, appearing for the respective respondents. By this PIL petition, the petitioners have essentially prayed to issue a direction to the respondents for granting approval to the Central Water Commission to the scheme R/S to B/Dyke from Bahari to Baghbor including protection of Bahari and its adjoining areas along with channelization of river Brahmaputra and reclamation of eroded land. It is also prayed that the respondents be directed to take up the issue of erosion of Brahmaputra and its tributaries as a national problem so as to take holistic and scientific approach to solve the problem of erosion. Certain other ancillary relief has also been prayed. Mr. R.K.D. Choudhury, learned DSGI, has submitted that an affidavit is filed on behalf of the respondent nos. 1, 2 & 3 wherein, the efforts to tackle the problem of erosion of Brahmaputra and its Tributaries has been mentioned. It is submitted that the respondents are seriously making efforts to tackle the problems highlighted by the petitioners in this PIL. In the latest affidavit filed on behalf of the respondent nos. 1, 2 & 3, the efforts carried out by the respondents to tackle the problem of erosion in the Brahmaputra and its Tributaries has been Page No.# 4/4 mentioned in paragraph 4, which are quoted herein below for ready reference :- "4. That the deponent begs to state that compliance to the comments of Hydrology (NE) Directorate, CWC were submitted by Project Authorities on 17/04/2024. Accordingly , the aspects regarding Hydrology was finalized vide letter dated 15/05/2024 and the same forwarded to Project Authorities vide email dated 15/05/2024 with a request to submit modified DPR along with the compliance of earlier observations issued by the Central Water Commission at earliest for needful action. Project authorities were reminded to sent compliance vide letter dated 27/06/2024. However, the modified DPR from Project Authorities is still awaited."

Mr. R. M. Das, learned counsel appearing for the Water Resources Department i.e. the respondent nos. 6, 7 & 8, has submitted that the modified DPR from the Project Authorities is already received and the same has been sent to the Chief Engineer, BBO, CWC, for further action. Mr. Choudhury and Mr. Das have submitted that the project undertaken by the respondents will hopefully tackle the problem of erosion in the Bahari to Baghbor. It is also submitted that the project would be implemented by maintaining the time limit and standards. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that the efforts carried out by the respondents to tackle the problems highlighted in the PIL petition are being addressed in a proper manner and, therefore, no further direction is required to be passed in this PIL petition for the present. In view of the above submission, we deem it appropriate to close this PIL petition. Hence, this PIL is disposed of.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE

sukhamay Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010127842021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/60/2021o TAZUDDINoAHMEDoANDo4oORSo S/OoLATEoAINUDDINoAHMED,oR/OoVILL-HARIPUR,oP.O.-BAHARIoHAT,oDIST- BARPETA,oASSAM,oPIN-781302 2:oHASHIMoALI oS/OoLATEoTAMEZUDDINoAHMED oR/OoVILL-BAHARIoMUSLIMoPARA oP.O.-BAHARIoHAT oDIST-BARPETA oASSAM oPIN-781302 3:oABANIoKUMARoDAS oS/OoLATEoPRANESWARoDAS oR/OoVILL-BAHARI oP.O.-BAHARIoHAT oDIST-BARPETA oASSAM oPIN-781302 4:oAMALoKUMARoCHANDA oS/OoLATEoMONORANJANoCHANDA oR/OoBAHARIoRESERVE oP.O.-BAHARIoHAT oDIST-BARPETA oASSAM oPIN-781302 5:oSHAHJAHANoALIoSIKDAR oS/OoLATEoABDULoKARIMoSIKDAR oR/OoVILL-HARIPUR oP.O.-BAHARIoHAT oDIST-BARPETA oASSAM PageoNo.#o2/4 oPIN-78130o VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo8oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoMINISTRYoOFoWATERo RESOURCES,oGOVT.oOFoINDIA,oNEWoDELHI-1 2:THEoCENTRALoWATERoCOMMISSION oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHAIRMAN oCWC o2NDoFLOORo(SOUTH)oSEWAoBHAWAN oR.K.oPURAM oNEWoDELHI-110066 3:THEoCHAIRMAN oCENTRALoWATERoCOMMISSION oNEWoDELHI-110066 4:THEoBRAHMAPUTRAoBOARD oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHAIRMAN oBASISTHA oGUWAHATI-39 5:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oBRAHMAPUTRAoANDoBARAKoBASINoORGANISATION oREBEKKAoVILLE oBARIKoPOINT oLOWERoLACHUMIERE oSHILLONG-793001 6:THEoCOMMISSIONoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oDEPARTMENToOFoWATERoRESOURCES oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6 7:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oWATERoRESOURCESoDEPARTMENT oGOVT.oOFoASSAM oCHANDMARI oGUWAHATI-3 8:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oDEPARTMENToOFoWATERoRESOURCES oBARPETAoDIVISIONoP.O.oANDoDIST-BARPETA oASSAM oPIN-781301 Page No.# 3/4 9:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER BARPETA P.O. AND DIST- BARPETA ASSAM PIN-78130 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A R SIKDAR, M M ZAMAN Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I., MS. B SARMA (C.G.C., R1-R3),MR. S C KEYAL (SC, BRAHMAPUTRA BOARD),SC, WATER RESOURCE,GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM