Summary
In 2015, an advocate practicing before the Uttarakhand High Court filed a writ petition concerning a lack of action by governmental authorities to prevent pollution in the Ganga river. The court ordered that the governmental authorities take action. No such action was taken, and the matter came before the court again, and the petitioner asked for the Himalayas, glaciers, streams, water bodies, etc. to be declared as legal entities at par with pious rivers Ganga and Yamuna. The court agreed, and the ruling gave personhood to glaciers including Gangotri and Yamunotri, rivers, streams, rivulets, lakes, air, meadows, dales, jungles, forests wetlands, grasslands, springs, and waterfalls.