CURRENT AFFAIRS | 24 APRIL 2026
CLAT GK + ENVIRONMENT + CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — RIGHT TO WATER
On 17 April 2026, the principal bench of the National Green Tribunal, headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava with expert members A Senthil Vel and Afroz Ahmad, passed a suo motu direction impleading 28 states and UTs to urgently mitigate arsenic and fluoride contamination in groundwater. The Tribunal noted that Bihar alone reports arsenic in 4,709 wards and fluoride in 3,789 wards; Uttar Pradesh has 16 districts affected by each contaminant; West Bengal has installed 1,500 community water purification plants; and UP reports over 80% household coverage under Jal Jeevan Mission. Karnataka flagged 20 arsenic-contaminated villages and 2,083 fluoride-contaminated villages.
The Tribunal directed adoption of filtration, ion-exchange and reverse osmosis (RO) remedial options and asked the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) to regularly monitor state action. Chronic arsenic exposure causes pigmentation, keratosis and skin cancer (Group 1 carcinogen per WHO); chronic fluoride ingestion causes dental and skeletal fluorosis.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Particular | Detail |
|---|---|
| Order Date | 17 April 2026 (suo motu) |
| Bench | J. Prakash Shrivastava + A Senthil Vel + Afroz Ahmad |
| States Impleaded | 28 states/UTs |
| Bihar Burden | 4,709 arsenic wards; 3,789 fluoride wards |
| WB Response | 1,500 community water purification plants |
| Monitoring Body | Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) |
Constitutional Framework
- Article 21 — Right to life includes right to safe, potable drinking water (Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar, 1991).
- Article 47 (DPSP) — State’s duty to raise the level of nutrition and public health.
- Article 48A (DPSP) — State to protect and improve the environment.
- Article 51A(g) (Fundamental Duty) — Citizens to protect and improve the natural environment.
- Article 253 — Parliament’s power to legislate for implementing international environmental treaties (Stockholm 1972, Rio 1992).
Statutory & Case-Law Scaffolding
- NGT Act, 2010 — Section 14 — Jurisdiction over substantial questions relating to environment.
- NGT Act, 2010 — Section 15 — Power to order relief, compensation and restitution.
- NGT Act, 2010 — Section 20 — Sustainable development, precautionary principle, polluter-pays principle.
- Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 — Section 3(3) — Source of CGWA’s statutory powers.
- Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 — CPCB and SPCBs’ water-quality mandate.
- Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar (1991) — Right to pollution-free water as part of Article 21.
- MC Mehta v UoI (Ganga Pollution Case, 1988) — Absolute liability for polluters.
- Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v UoI (1996) — Adopted precautionary and polluter-pays principles into Indian law.
CLAT 2027 Perspective
Prime Legal Reasoning passage territory: a principles-and-facts question testing right to safe water under Art 21, the precautionary principle, and the polluter-pays principle. Current-affairs questions may target the bench composition, Bihar’s 4,709 wards figure, CGWA’s parent statute and Sections 14/20 of the NGT Act. Also strong cross-link with Jal Jeevan Mission (Har Ghar Jal) and Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation).
Practice Quiz — 10 CLAT-Style Questions
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