River as a person with rights

THE idea of endowing legal rights on non-humans and entities with constitutional protections is not new. Local grassroots movements in India, such as Chipko, have campaigned in the past to include the rights of forests to exist and thrive in our forest policies. The method has lately been used with certain characteristics, particularly for rivers, in many parts of the world. Many countries have granted ‘legal personality’ to their rivers. This implies that rivers are accorded a fundamental set of legal entitlements that include specific rights, obligations, and commitments. Legal rights have been established through both legislative and judicial processes with their own unique potential and constraints.