Apex court moved to stop idol immersion in rivers

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Friday refused to accord an urgent hearing to a plea for stopping the environment-harming immersion of idols of various deities in rivers and water bodies across India after Hindu festivals.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice B.N. Agrawal said it would hear the plea in due course.

The lawsuit has been filed by Salek Chand Jain, a Delhi resident who has contended that immersion of idols in water bodies renders the water contaminated and non-potable due to dissolution of chemicals contained in paints on idols.

The lawsuit drafted by advocate Sugreeva Dubey contended that the Hindu religious practice not only flouted his fundamental right to life enshrined in the constitution but also the provisions of the Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Act, 1974.

Dubey argued that due to large scale of idols’ immersion on the occasion Dussehrra last month, the Yamuna river was clogged to the extent that the regular production of 200 million gallons per day (MGD) of water at the Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant had significantly come down and the Delhi Jal Board had to launch manual work to clear the river of debris.

He said the water bodies all over the country face significant regular contamination due to idol immersion after festivals.

He sought an immediate ban on the religious practice.