A public interest litigation filed in the Bombay High Court has demanded that no water should be released for the 'shahi snan' ('royal bath') days during the ongoing Kumbha Mela at Nashik on the banks of Godavari as most of the state is reeling under an "unprecedented" drought.
The petition, filed by activists Sanjay Kale and Sandip Kulkarni, would come up for hearing before the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court.
The Kumbh Mela, touted as the largest religious congregation on earth, is underway at Nashik. The PIL objects to the state government's decision to release water periodically from up-stream dams to Trimbakeshwar and Panchawati at Nashik between July 14 this year to August 2016.
On one hand, during the droughts, swimming pools are shut down and water supply for many other purposes is cut, but there is no regulation of water usage for religious occasions such as the Kumbh Mela, the PIL says, adding it shows "utter disregard for a uniform state policy with regard to use of water during the drought".
According to the statistics released by the Water Resources department, almost eighty per cent of the state is facing a drought, Marathwada being the worst-affected, and most dams hold very little water, the PIL points out.
The petitioners allege that 3,000 mcft water has been reserved for 'shahi snan' days of the Kumbh Mela this year.
