Supreme Court stays Uttarakhand HC's order declaring Ganga, Yamuna a 'living entity'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Friday stayed the Uttarakhand High Court’s order that declared the Ganga and Yamuna rivers as a 'living entity', granting them the same legal rights as human beings.

Earlier in March, the Uttarakhand HC accorded the status of "living human entities" to the two sacred rivers in India.

As per the new status, anyone polluting the rivers – Ganga and Yamuna - can be penalised the way a court can punish someone who hurts a human being.

The HC, while coming down heavily upon the Union and Uttarakhand state government for doing "nothing concrete" to clean the river, also slammed them for wasting efforts on reviving a lost river Saraswati but not taking efforts on maintaining Ganga which if given proper attention will once again flow in its full glory.