The Supreme Court accepted the Rajasthan government’s proposal of relocating the structures from inside the Seven Wonders Park along the Ana Sagar Lake in Ajmer within a period of six months.
“The statement on oath clearly shows that even the State is aware that the structures were constructed on a lake because a prayer is made in the alternative to permit the structures to remain at the same place without disturbing the ecology of the lake or the environment in the area,” observed the bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan March 17, 2025.
The apex court also acknowledged the assurance in the affidavit that the entire food court within the park will be dismantled. SC instructed that if the state wishes to preserve the work done on the wetland or lake, it should present a proposal to recreate the wetland in the same city with a sufficient area. The court scheduled the matter for April 7, 2025.
The National Green Tribunal March 4, 2025 directed the secretary, environment, Uttar Pradesh to file an affidavit on the status of drains and sewage treatment plant (STP) locations in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Submissions by the applicant March 2, 2025 showed the status of discharge of untreated / partially treated sewage in River Ganga and its tributaries in the districts. The other details concerning the compliance of norms in those districts having effect on the river water quality were also disclosed.
Additional advocate general for Uttar Pradesh sought time to respond to each of the points and recommendations mentioned in the submissions of the applicant and also to provide a timeline, along with the name of the responsible officer, for adhering to the said timeline for remediating the problem.
SC directed executive officer, Nagar Panchayat Parishad, Faridnagar, Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh to engage the services of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) for advising the Nagar Panchayat about the steps to be taken for restoration of the lakes / ponds, for its rejuvenation and for maintenance.
On March 17, 2025, the Supreme Court stated that if the Nagar Panchayat in Faridnagar requires funds to pay NEERI, it should request financial assistance from the state.
SC also stayed the direction issued by NGT for payment of environmental compensation imposed on Nagar Panchayat Parishad, Faridnagar.
Faridnagar has several ponds / talabs / johads covering a total area of 11.13 hectares, according to the application submitted to NGT by Paryavaran Mitra. These have been unlawfully encroached upon by constructing permanent brick and concrete structures, including houses, animal sheds and other buildings for residential and commercial use, significantly reducing the area of the waterbodies.
Further, toxic waste like garbage, plastic, cardboard, thermocol, human waste, animal dung, acidic water is being dumped in the ponds, disturbing flora, fauna and ecology of the pond. Presence of toxic solid waste is resulting in air and water pollution, affecting people and animals in the area.
The Assam government has taken initiatives to control the encroachment on forest land and eviction drives are conducted from time to time to free the forest area in Kamrup Metropolitan district from encroachment.
During 2022-2023, 10 eviction drives were conducted, wherein 35 kuchha houses were removed, freeing up 1.52 hectares of forest land. Eviction drives are being conducted on a regular basis.
This was stated in the affidavit filed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Head of Forest Force, Assam before NGT in the matter relating to news item titled Large portion of forest areas in Kamrup (M) under encroachment which appeared in the news publication Assam Tribune, November 6, 2024.
A report filed March 6, 2025 called the news item “factually incorrect”.
The Kamrup (M) district has 12 reserved forests covering an area of 28,380.09 hectares, out of which about 4,240.4 hectares of forest land is under encroachment, mainly in South Kalapahar reserved forest, Fatasil reserved forest, Hengrabari reserved forest, Gotanagar reserved forest, Garbhanga reserved forest, Marakdola reserved forest, West Apricola reserved forest and Matapahar reserved forest.
The threat of encroachment of forest land generally exists in and around Guwahati city, the report stated. The forest department remains vigilant and conducts eviction drives to restrain the people from illegally occupying or encroaching the forest land, it added.
In addition, the claims received under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 are processed as per the provisions, the report said.