Patna High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to act sternly in restoring the original course of the river Ganga in the state capital.

"The state should act tough on those creating obstacles in digging up the channel or else the same would amount to contempt of court by them," principal additional advocate-general Lalit Kishore said, quoting the division bench of Chief Justice L. Narasimha Reddy and Justice Sudhir Singh.

An earlier division bench of Chief Justice Reddy and Justice Vikash Jain had on March 4 directed the Union government and the state to restore the original course of the Ganga by digging a 50-ft-wide channel on the dry riverbed along its banks, right from the Civil Court Ghat to Digha Ghat to ensure continuous flow of the river water.

The court had also directed the government to ensure that no encroachment comes in the way of this channel.

The bench had then directed the state government and the central authorities to file their respective replies-cum-reports on the issue.

The previous bench took suo motu cognizance of a letter written by the district and session judge, Patna, in which he had highlighted the plight of the Ganga.

The district judge had pointed out that in the recent past, the river, which used to flow by the side of the court premises, had shifted its course and the sacred waters of the Ganga had been replaced by dirty water.

Gauging the seriousness of the matter, the bench directed the letter to be treated as a PIL.

The court had held prima facie that the issue has a greater dimension than that of mere negligence.

The state government, in its report submitted on Tuesday, told the court that the authorities concerned are facing problems in reclamation of land for digging the channel as the local people are claiming that the land belonged to them.

Principal additional advocate-general Kishore told the court that work has been allotted to the authorities concerned for digging the channel between Civil Court Ghat to Digha Ghat. The court then directed the state government to work day and night and finish it soon. In the last two decades, the Ganga has shifted by about two to three kilometres, affecting the Patna civil court situated on the banks of the river. Sewage from a city drain near the court, which would flow into the river, now tends to accumulate in the vicinity as the river has moved further away.

Illegal sand mining is said to have forced a northward shift in the river. The bench had earlier pulled up the state mining department and asked it to implement the Supreme Court order related to sand mining.

The apex court had mandated environmental clearance from the Centre for mining minor minerals that includes sand.

There are 86 ghats in Patna. Chief Justice Reddy remarked that there are only a handful of cities in India that are situated along rivers. He said the river should be restored to make fresh water available to citizens.

The court, in its earlier order, also asked the authorities concerned to take steps for providing water transport facility, a ferry service like Cochin has, throughout the river Ganga in the state capital and to ease the traffic pressure on Patna's roads as a long-term programme. The bench had said on March 4 that though heavy duty and sophisticated dredges are available with various government agencies, they remain mute spectators even as the glorious banks of Patna are becoming the basins of polluted and drain water.