Judicial Activism: A Catalyst to Facilitate Sustainable Abstraction of Groundwater Resources of Bangladesh?

摘要

Unsustainable groundwater abstraction is now an acknowledged problem in Bangladesh. Current water laws, policies, and institutions are widely recognized to have failed in addressing this problem effectively and efficiently. Moreover, the relevant laws and policies are themselves defective and deficient in controlling the free-style extraction of this precious resource, and compliance is very weak. The institutions responsible for enforcing the legal regulation of groundwater abstraction are also weak, fragmented and patchy. Against this backdrop, this paper investigates whether judicial activism could be one of the avenues to promote the sustainable abstraction of groundwater resources of Bangladesh. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh could be a catalyst in facilitating, though not ensuring, the sustainable abstraction of groundwater resources, not least it could declare laws as well as promote compliance and enforcement by applying its unique judicial activism tool. The Court has made a laudable contribution to the protection of the environment. Despite the intrinsic connectivity of water (both surface and ground) with environment, Court's activism in relation to this resource is very poor and limited, and this is more true in relation to the protection of groundwater resources. In fact, till date the Court has not explicitly dealt with the groundwater depletion issue, and as such judicial activism has not found its way to tackle this menace.