Sabarmati River

Subject – Geography

Context – Dying Sabarmati: Polluting units to be named, shamed and prosecuted, says Gujarat HC

Concept –

Industrial units found to have discharged pollutants into the Sabarmati river in Gujarat will not be provided water and power. They will also be penalised, named and shamed, the Gujarat High Court said in a recent order.
All such polluting units will also be banned from participating in any industrial fair, public-private partnership events, etc, the court added.
“In our Constitution, water resources are held in public trust. We have to use the ‘Public Trust Doctrine’ to apply stringent provisions against permitting municipal bodies or industries from polluting rivers,” the bench said in its order.

About Sabarmati River

The Sabarmati originates in the Dhebar lake situated in the southern part of the Aravalli range in the Udaipur district of Rajasthan.
It flows in a south-western direction, passing through Udaipur in Rajasthan and Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad and Anand districts of Gujarat.
- Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad are two main cities standing on its banks.
- The Sabarmati basin extends over states of Rajasthan and Gujarat having an area of 21,674 Sq km.
After traveling about 371 km, it falls into the Gulf of Khambhat.
The Sabarmati is the name given to the combined streams the Sabar and Hathmati.
The basin is bounded by Aravalli hills on the north and north-east, by Rann of Kutch on the west and by Gulf of Khambhat on the south.
The basin is roughly triangular in shape with the Sabarmati River as the base and the source of the Vatrak River as the apex point.
Left bank tributaries: the Wakal, the Hathmati and the Vatrak.
Right bank tributaries: the Sei.
Projects: Sabarmati reservoir (Dharoi), Hathmati reservoir and Meshwo reservoir project are major projects completed during the plan period.
The Sabarmati is a seasonal river receiving varied rainfall and has been frequented by floods in the past.
Gandhi, father of the nation, established an ashram on the banks of this river, the Sabarmati Ashram, an embodiment of peace, struggle, sacrifice, courage, and hard work.