RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, April 18: The Jharkhand High Court (JHC) disposed of a petition that sought to clean the city’s one of the most popular tourist attractions, Ranchi Lake, which features a large statue of Swami Vivekanand in the centre.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjaya Mishra passed the order of disposal before directing the government to take proper care of its cleanliness. The court, while disposing the matter, made it clear that in case the state government does not take care of cleanliness the petitioner has liberty to file a contempt of court.
Petitioner advocate Khusboo Kataruka confirmed the development saying one more PIL, which arose after the Jharkhand High Court took suo moto cognizance in 2011, is still pending and disposal of her petition does not close door of those who want to bring lake related issue into the notice of the court.
Before the high court disposed of the PIL, the state government informed the court that encroachments have been removed from around the rivers and ponds and several steps have also been taken to ensure that the ponds are not polluted.
Kataruka had knocked on the JHC door pointing out how hundreds of acres of land in Ranchi Lake, Kanke Dam and Dhurva Dam have been grabbed by encroachers. She, in her petition, had mentioned that a under construction multi-storeyed building had threatened the quality of already polluted lake water.
