In a packed courtroom on Thursday, the Supreme Court delivered one of its sharpest environmental rebukes in recent years, calling the ongoing contamination of Rajasthan’s Jojari–Bandi–Luni river system a “grave constitutional injury”. Hearing a suo motu matter triggered by a viral documentary, the bench remarked that nearly two million lives had been left exposed to toxic water due to “decades of administrative apathy”.
Background
The proceedings began after the court took note of a documentary titled “2 Million Lives at Risk | India’s Deadliest River”, which showed horrifying visuals of untreated industrial effluents flowing directly into village drains and riverbeds. The issue isn’t new. For almost twenty years, rivers flowing through Jodhpur, Pali, and Balotra have carried dyes, chemicals, and sewage-much of it from textile clusters-into fields and groundwater.
Despite earlier cases before the High Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT), little changed on the ground. Several appeals challenging the NGT’s 2022 remedial directions were pending before the Supreme Court when the bench decided to club them with the suo motu matter for a unified hearing.
Court’s Observations
The atmosphere in Courtroom 4 turned tense as the bench read out portions of the record. The judges noted how villages down the river course had reported ruined crops, dying livestock, and undrinkable groundwater. “When pollution reaches this scale,” one judge said during the hearing, “it is not just an ecological issue-it becomes a direct constitutional violation.”
The bench pointed out that many of the State’s recent actions-closing illegal units, removing bypass lines, and issuing notices-began only after the Supreme Court intervened. The court observed, “These steps are welcome, but their timing is deeply telling.”
Several findings were damning. The Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) were running at almost half capacity. Municipal bodies were discharging untreated sewage into rivers. Illegal industries mushroomed on agricultural land. And SCADA monitoring systems meant to track pollution were either absent or dysfunctional.
At one point, the bench remarked, “Delay here is not merely undesirable; it is catastrophic.” The judges said the pollution had become “carcinogenic in impact” for surrounding communities.
Decision
In a significant move, the Supreme Court lifted the stay on NGT’s 2022 environmental directions, allowing all remedial measures to proceed immediately. However, the court kept the stay intact only for two aspects:
- Adverse remarks made by NGT against RIICO and municipal bodies
- The ₹2-crore environmental compensation imposed on each body
Calling for a “scientifically supervised clean-up”, the bench also constituted a High-Level Ecosystem Oversight Committee headed by Justice Sangeet Lodha (Retd.). This body will map every discharge point, audit all CETPs and STPs, track SCADA data, recommend prosecution of violators, and prepare a full river-restoration blueprint.
The State has been directed to provide staff, office space, security, and monthly honorarium for the committee, and the first status report must reach the Court within eight weeks.
With that, the bench concluded, stressing that protecting the right to clean water and a healthy environment is not optional but a constitutional mandate. The matter will now be monitored continuously.
Case Title: In Re: 2 Million Lives at Risk, Contamination in Jojari River, Rajasthan
Case No.: Suo Moto Writ Petition (Civil) No. 8 of 2025
Tagged Appeals:
- Civil Appeal Nos. 5517–5519 of 2022
- Civil Appeal No. 8748 of 2022
- Civil Appeal Nos. 9057–9058 of 2022
- Civil Appeal Nos. 9010–9011 of 2022
Case Type:
- Suo Moto Public Interest / Environmental Matter
- Civil Appellate Jurisdiction
Decision Date: 21 November 2025