The Allahabad High Court has said that the future of India to a “large extent” will depend on the well-being of the river Ganga, and that it is “imperative that every effort should be made to revive the river and make it pollution-free”. Justices Ritu Raj Awasthi and Dinesh Kumar Singh of the court’s Lucknow Bench pointed out that after being elected as Prime Minister in May 2014, Narendra Modi said that it was his “destiny to serve Maa Ganga”.

The court said that despite being the “lifeline of the nation, having been worshipped, providing sustenance to a large population, over the time the river has become highly polluted”.

The court made the remarks while dismissing a petition filed by M/S Geo Miller & Co. Pvt. Ltd., which had moved court after its bid for a project under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in Uttar Pradesh was turned down for not having met the technical qualification criteria. The petition had alleged bias in award of contract. The court said that “the course of action adopted by the NMCG is well within its power and does not call for any interference by this Court”.

“Looking at the large public interest involved, even if it is assumed that there has been some technical and procedural aberration in awarding the contract in favour of respondent No.4 but since, same has been without any malafide or arbitrariness, public interest would demand that such aberration is to be ignored,” said the judges.

(With inputs from agencies)