Meghalaya High Court Orders Protection Of Water Bodies, Restricts Construction Near High-Water Mark

The Meghalaya High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to ensure that it does not allow any construction to come up within 50 metres of the high-water mark of the relevant waterbody, without the express previous leave of the Court.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W. Diengdoh passed this direction while hearing a Public Interest Litigation on conservation of water bodies in the State.

The court's directive comes in response to an affidavit filed by the Secretary to the State Government in the Forest and Environment Department, which highlighted the efforts of a sub-committee of experts in drafting a set of norms and guidelines for future construction around water bodies.

According to the affidavit, the draft guidelines for the protection and conservation of water bodies have been submitted, and the State has circulated them for comments from various departments and district councils. Recognizing the importance of public input, the court has permitted interested parties to obtain copies of the draft guidelines from the State to better assist in the proceedings.

In this backdrop, Counsel for State requested that the matter may be listed after eight weeks so that a firm stand pertaining to the guidelines could be indicated.

In view of the said request the bench directed the matter to be listed on July 19th 2022.

"In the meantime, the State will make every endeavour to preserve all the waterbodies in the State and neither the State nor the local authorities will allow any construction to come up within 50 metres of the high-water mark of the relevant waterbody without the express previous leave of this Court", the bench ordered.

Case Title: Cleanliness of Umiam Lake vs State of Meghalaya

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