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Sd/- xx        Member-Secretary".

4. Before we proceed further, we should record our total disappointment and displeasure on the attitude of the respondent-public authorities as regards their response to this taken-up writ petition, a public interest litigation (hereinafter referred to as PIL, for brevity). The issue raised in the writ petition is of vital importance to the public at large and if the allegations made by the petitioner are true, it is a very serious matter where the State and the concerned State authorities and also the concerned statutory authorities cannot assume the role of a silent spectator, but they are required to apply their mind seriously to the problem and take every permissible and possible step to prevent further pollution and degradation of the renowned lake and to pursue other necessary steps to cleanse the already polluted tank. Such a public duty of the respondents flows from the provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the State owes a duty in that regard to the residents in the vicinity of the 'Durgam Cheruvu' lake.

8. Earth has been described as "a jewel in space" but that jewel is passing through various catastrophic problems such as lifeless rivers, land sterilized by humans, carbon dioxide and other gases in the air resulting in climate change, deserts expand, the deforestation, diminution of forest wealth, disorderly and rapid growth of cities, custom built slums, abject poverty and affluent life styles of world's one fifth population of the developed countries. It is said that the Black Sea is on the verge of a catastrophe as all life could disappear from it due to chemical poisoning. Our own Ganga- the cradle of India's civilisation has become one of the highly polluted rivers in the world threatening human lives around. Many beautiful rivers which nourished and nurtured many human civilisations have become sewers endangering the oceans. Alarmingly deforestation is consuming reservoirs of centuries in a short time, soil erosion and peat depletion are exhausting reservoirs of millennia at a rapid pace. Environment and its protection are the subject assuming international dimensions. The world is shrinking. Any event in any part of the world having its impact on environment by way of pollution or protection has its ramifications in every other part of the world. The anxiety world over is displayed by including one or other aspect of environment in international conventions and conferences recognising the negative impact of the pollution of air, water and environment. Showing keen concern on the growing problems of environmental pollution, the United Nations convened an International Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm in 1972 which is popularly known as "Stockholm Conference". This conference has become a significant event in the world because an international dialogue on the protection of the environment began with the convening of that conference. The proclamation adopted by the Stockholm Conference which took place at Stockholm from June 5 to 16, 1972 and in which the Indian delegation led by the Prime Minister of India took a leading role, reads :--

(4) The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects."

The untraversed allegations made in the petition and the status report submitted by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board through its Secretary undoubtedly indicate that water pollutants, chemical pollutants and air pollutants are at play to degrade the water quality of the Durgam Cheruvu lake and cause harm and injury to the residents who live in the vicinity of the Durgam Cheruvu. Water pollution is the introduction into land or ocean, river, lake or tank waters of chemical, physical or biological material that degrades the quality of water. This process ranges from simple addition of dissolved or suspended solids to discharge of the most insidious toxic pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and bio-accumulative chemical compounds that persist and pervade the environment. The water pollutants are of two kinds -conventional and non-conventional. The conventional pollutants which are sometimes termed as classical pollutants are generally associated with the direct input of waste products, mainly human. Rapid urbanisation and rapid population increase have produced sewage problems because treatment facilities have not kept pace with need. Untreated and partially treated sewage from municipal waste water-systems and septic tanks in unsewered areas contribute significant quantities of nutrients, suspended solids, dissolved solids, oil, metals such as arsenic, mercury, chromium, lead, iron and manganese and biodegradable organic carbon to the water environment. It is stated that conventional pollutants may cause myriad of water pollution problems. Excess suspended solids block out energy from the sun and thus affect the carbondioxide-oxygen conversion process, which is vital to the maintenance of the biological food chain. Also, high concentrations of suspended solids slit up rivers and navigational channels, necessitating frequent dredjing. Excess dissolved solids make the water undesirable for drinking and for crop irrigation. It is also scientifically well established that although essential to the aquatic habitat, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus may also cause overfertilisation and accelerate the natural aging process called eutrophication of lakes and this acceleration in turn produces an overgrowth of aquatic vegetation, massive algal blooms, and an overall shift in the biologic community -from low productivity with many diverse species to high productivity with large numbers of a few species of a less desirable nature. Bacterial action oxidizes biodegradable organic carbon and consumes dissolved oxygen in water. It is stated that in extreme cases where the organic-carbon loading is high, oxygen consumption may lead to an oxygen depression; less than 2 mg/1 (compared with 5 to 7 mg/1 for a healthy system) is sufficient to cause a fish kill and seriously to disrupt the growth of associated organisms.

It converts basic oxides to hydroxides and acidic oxides to oxy-acids. Water serves both as a heat-transfer medium (eg., ice for cooling and steam for heating) and as temperature regulator for the water in lakes and oceans helps regulate the climate. Therefore, it is trite to state that the water is the most essential liquid on earth without which the mankind and other beings cannot survive.

19. The problem of pollution of rivers and other water courses has assumed considerable importance and urgency in the past as well as in recent years as a result of the growth of industries and the increasing tendency to urbanisation. The Government of India had set up a Committee in 1962 to draw a draft enactment for the prevention of water pollution. The Committee so constituted went into the problem of pollution of water courses and submitted the report. The report of the Committee was circulated to the State Governments and also considered by the Central Council of Local Self-Government in 1963. This Council resolved that single law regarding measures to deal with water pollution control; both at the Central and the State levels may be enacted by the Union Parliament. Accordingly a draft bill was prepared and put up for consideration at ajoint session of the Central Council of Local Self-Government and the Fifth Conference of the State Ministers of Town and Country Planning held in 1965. The bill was drafted and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 was enacted. The said Act provides for establishment at the Centre as well as in the States, Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards with necessary complement of technical and administrative staff and to confer on them such powers as are necessary to deal effectively with the problem of water pollution in the country. It is also provides penalties for contravention of the provisions of the Act. The Act also establishes Central and State water testing laboratories to enable the Boards to assess the extent of pollution, lay down standards and establish guilt or default.