The eastern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the concerned authorities April 7, 2025 to file their reply on allegations of illegal stone mining in Palamu district, Jharkhand.
Notices were directed to be issued to the Department of Forest, Environment & Climate Change, Government of Jharkhand; District Magistrate & Collector, Palamu; Divisional Forest Officer, Medinirai; District Mining Officer, Palamu district and Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board.
All the respondents have been directed to file their counter affidavits with regard to the allegations of illegal mining as published in the news daily Times of India on March 24, 2025.
The newspaper article stated that the attack underscored the growing menace of illegal stone mining in Palamu district of Jharkhand. The attack occurred when the foresters attempted to seize two boulder-laden tractors. This is the third such attack in just over a month.
A two-member fact finding committee was directed by NGT April 7, 2025 to look into the allegations of plastic bags dumped in River Budhi Gandak in the process of bridge construction, which have not been removed even after the construction got over. The committee has been asked to visit the site and then submit its report.
Further, NGT directed notices to be issued to the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of Bihar; District Magistrate & Collector, Muzaffarpur; Bihar State Pollution Control Board; Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation Limited and M/s Ganesha Ram Dokaniya. All the respondents have been directed to file their counter affidavits.
The application was registered on the basis of a letter petition dated December 27, 2024 sent to NGT by applicant Devavrat Kumar Sahani from Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Hundreds of thousands of plastic bags were dumped into Budhi Gandak during the process of bridge construction in Athar Ghat by Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation Ltd, Sahani alleged. Due to this, the flow of the river has been affected and the garbage has not been cleaned.
The work of bridge construction was allotted to Ganesha Ram Dokaniya Aliganj Banka, Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam.
NGT directs Arunachal Pradesh to reply on steps taken to stop sewage pollution of rivers Senki, Pachin and Dikrong.
The state of Arunachal Pradesh and Itanagar Municipal Corporation were directed by NGT April 8, 2025 to file their counter affidavits on the setting up of adequate faecal sludge treatment plants (FSTP) to address the problem of sewage pollution into the Senki, Pachin and Dikrong rivers.
An application was filed before NGT that the court’s orders of January 5, 2023 and August 25, 2022 have not been complied till date.
NGT January 5, 2023 had directed that all efforts must be taken to ensure that no untreated or treated sewage be allowed to enter into the waterbody of the three rivers.
Quarterly monitoring should be carried out by the Arunachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board, taking water samples for testing upstream and downstream. The state was also asked to file a compliance report by January 15, 2024.