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Judgment
Biswanath Somadder, CJ
At the time of the hearing of this matter, we were taken through various pleadings including the preliminary report of the amicus dated 26th February, 2022, wherefrom it appears that the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department, in a letter dated 7th February, 2022, has mentioned that it has responsibility to supply water only in the urban areas of the State and since all pharmaceutical companies fall under rural areas, the authorities under the Rural Development Department may be able to give specific information regarding the issue at hand.
We would like to know from the learned Additional Advocate General on the next date on what basis was this letter of PHE Department dated 7th February, 2022, written. More specifically, wherefrom the PHE Department came up with the assertion that it has been given responsibility by the State Government to supply water only in the urban areas of the State while excluding rural areas. The relevant Government order/notification in this regard is required to be produced on the next date by the learned Additional Advocate General.
On the next date, the learned Additional Advocate General shall also intimate this Court as to when a Nodal Agency/Committee shall be constituted comprising of experts in order to study the situation at ground level and the steps it proposes to take in order to reverse the situation at hand, i.e., depletion of ground water within the areas where the pharmaceutical companies are carrying out their manufacturing/business activities.
Let the matter be listed after six weeks.