This holy Indian river now gets the same rights as a human being
- Just like injuring or harming a person leads to punishment so too polluting the river will incur punishment
- A river in New Zealand recently became the first to receive the status of a living entity
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The Uttarakhand High Court declared the river a “living entity.” The order basically means that the river has the same rights as a human being. So just like injuring or harming a person leads to punishment so too polluting the river will incur punishment.
The Uttarakhand government has also been ordered to form a Ganga Administration Board which will be responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of the river.
This move mirrors that of New Zealand where a became the first in the world to be recognised as a living entity with its own rights and values like a man.
The Whanganui River, located in the north island of New Zealand, has a special and spiritual importance for the Maori people.
In India since we attach special importance to anything which is religious value for example the cow. Even the River Ganga has religious significance because it is considered holy by the Hindus. Like we have warriors fighting against cow slaughter we will now have Ganga warriors, hopefully not to mention environmental activists.
This move would mean that defecating, polluting, dumping dead bodies, etc in the river Ganga will be a criminal offence. Probably the Uttarakhand High Court judgement will finally resurrect the river in this manner.
