The Government has no right to transfer “invaluable” community resources like village water ponds to a few powerful people and industrialists for commercialisation of the property, when many areas of the country perennially face water crisis and access to drinking water is woefully inadequate, the Supreme Court has held. “Protection of such village commons is essential to safeguard the fundamental right guaranteed by Article 21 of our Constitution. Such an attitude would display “a mechanical application of environmental protection,” the court said. “Since time immemorial, certain common lands had vested in village communities for collective benefit… Such protections, however, remained on paper. Setting aside the Tribunal’s order, the apex court ordered the authorities and the industrialists to remove all obstructions and restore the water bodies within three months.

Source: The Hindu December 31, 2019 17:03 UTC