Uttarakhand High Court Upholds Rafting Limit on the Ganga
The Uttarakhand High Court has officially endorsed a cap on the number of rafts permitted for commercial adventure tourism on the holy River Ganga. In a significant ruling, the court declined to interfere with the decision made by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB), which has set the maximum number of rafts at 576.
Committee's Assessment and Petitioner's Challenge
The court was informed that a 15-member committee constituted by the UTDB had conducted a thorough assessment of the river's carrying capacity. This expert panel was responsible for determining the sustainable number of rafts and ultimately fixed the limit at 576.
However, the petitioner, the Alaknanda Ganga River Rafting Samiti, challenged this decision in court. Their primary argument centered on a technical calculation regarding the time rafts take to cross rapids. The petitioner claimed that the committee had miscalculated, assuming a crossing time of three minutes per raft, while they insisted the actual time was only one minute.
Court's Rationale and Final Disposal
A single bench of Justice Manoj Tiwari, presiding over the case, delivered the judgment on Friday. The court explicitly stated that it was not inclined to delve into the technical question raised by the petitioner. Justice Tiwari emphasized that such matters fall squarely within the domain of experts, not the judiciary.
The bench remarked, "The court is not inclined to go into the question, as raised by the petitioner, as it is for the experts to decide how many rafts can be plied at a given point of time." With this, the court disposed of the writ petition, effectively upholding the UTDB's limit of 576 rafts.
New Stretch for Rafting and Future Possibilities
In its proceedings, the court also noted the committee's observation that a 36 km stretch of the river between Devprayag and Kodiyala could be considered for future rafting activities. While the main petition was dismissed, the court provided a pathway for the petitioners to pursue this opportunity.
The ruling allows the Alaknanda Ganga River Rafting Samiti to submit a formal representation to the competent authority, requesting the opening of this new stretch. The court directed that "if the petitioner makes such a representation to the competent authority, it shall have the stretch technically examined and take a decision, as per law, within six months." This provides a clear and time-bound process for potentially expanding rafting operations in the region, subject to a fresh technical review.
