Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, India

Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, India

March 23, 2017
The high court in the city of Nainital in Uttrakhand declared that the Ganges and Yamuna were “legal and living entities having the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities,” reports Michael Safi at The Guardian. They appointed three officials as custodians of the rivers and ordered that a management board be created within three months.

httpss://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ganges-and-yamuna-rivers-given-rights-people-india-180962639/

Share this

Facebook
LinkedIn
X
WhatsApp
Reddit
Threads
Email
Print

More news and updates

Rivers Have Rights: What a New UK Parliamentary Briefing Means for the Global Movement

A new research briefing from the UK House of Commons examines the growing global and domestic movement to grant rivers legal standing. From New Zealand's

A River Deserves More: The Push to Recognize the Roaring Fork’s Rights

An Aspen activist is asking a simple but radical question: what if the Roaring Fork River had legal rights of its own? As Colorado communities

The World’s First Insect with Legal Rights Is a Bee You’ve Never Heard Of

In October 2025, an insect received legal rights for the first time in history. The Amazonian stingless bee — a pollinator of over 80% of