Summary
In 2016, Ganga Action Parivar, CELDF, and the Global Interfaith WASH alliance drafted a proposal for a National Ganga River Rights Act to give the river legal rights. The National Ganga Rights Act is proposed with the purpose of “establishing, securing, and defending the inalienable and inherent rights of the Ganga River, its tributaries, and watershed, and the rights of the people of India to a healthy, thriving river Basin.” The Act also establishes the rights of the people of India and their governments to defend and enforce the rights of the Ganga laid out in the act.
The law also proposed all municipalities of class I to V category be provided with “sewage treatment systems to ensure complete treatment of human waste and other waste matter from homes and buildings, structures and facilities before it reaches the river or its tributaries”. The law also recommended the creation of a special policing force to monitor and arrest any person who pollutes the river.
The Act is intended to address the 1994 Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, and its ineffectiveness of preventing severe pollution of the Ganga River.
The draft law was intended for presentation and discussion with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and his government.
Involved Organizations
Related Initiatives
Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2026. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/proposed-national-ganga-river-rights-act/.
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