New Delhi, Mar 06: Taking note of brazen encroachments along the Yamuna in the city, the Delhi High Court has directed the Centre and other concerned agencies to remove all illegal structures from the river embankment and its bed, including religious places, within two months. "We direct all the authorities concerned -- Delhi development authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, public works department and Delhi Jal board as well as the central government -- to forthwith remove all unauthorised structures put up in Yamuna bed and its embankment within two months," a division bench comprising Justice Vijender Jain and Justice B N Chaturvedi said. Seeking compliance report by May 14, the court appointed senior advocate Amarjit Singh Chandhioke as Amicus Curaie (a lawyer to assist the court) to adjudicate the matter arising out of a petition on encroachment of the government land, including that by the slum dwellers.
"There is a never ending drama of illegal encroachment going on in the capital city of our republic. Yamuna which is a major source of water has been polluted like never before and its bed have been encroached by unscrupulous persons with connivance of the authorities, the court said.
"Yamuna bed as well as its embankment has to be cleared from such encroachments as rivers are perennial source of life and throughout the civilised world, rivers, their water and surroundings have not only been preserved, beautified but special efforts have been made to see that they were free from any kind of pollution," the court observed.

Bureau Report