The joint committee report dated January 9, 2026, depicted wrong information in order to mislead the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and to save illegal construction activities being done on the bed as well as buffer zone of Ludhiana’s Budha Dariya by the city’s local body.
The Public Action Committee, applicant in the case, stated this in the rejoinder filed on February 27, 2026, to the joint committee report.
The applicant submitted eight photographs clicked on February 27, 2026, which depicted the ongoing illegal construction activities as well as the present size of the Budha Dariya at some locations. Two of the photographs clearly depict the construction of the RCC retaining wall within the flowing stream of the Budha Dariya.
The panel, said the applicant, has failed to refer to the Revenue Aks Chajjra Plan of Budha Dariya, physical measurements at the site, and even failed to comment on the buffer zone of the natural waterbody. It has reproduced the version of the Municipal Corporation Ludhiana (MCL) stating that “the RCC Wall will not contribute to overflow, rather it will help to control the overflow”.
According to the applicants, the construction of vertical RCC walls along a natural waterbody like the Budha Dariya eliminates space for plantation and wild vegetation which are essential for absorption of impurities, natural filtration and groundwater recharge. Further, such concretisation over the bed and the banks of a natural water body, including the buffer zone, is in violation of the directions of the court.
“The joint committee has erroneously stated that no construction has been carried out within the Budha Dariya and that there is no reduction in the bed width,” said the report. Illegal construction activities are continuing unabated. The MCL is still carrying out construction of RCC walls and roads within the bed as well as the buffer zone of the Budha Dariya.
The MCL failed to enforce the provisions of the Master Plan, resulting in the mushrooming of illegal commercial and industrial establishments in residential areas along the Budha Dariya. Instead of taking action against such violators, the MCL is damaging the Budha Dariya and its buffer zone to facilitate and regularise such illegal activities.
Continuous dumping of earth into the Budha Dariya is being carried out to reduce its width for construction of roads, shops, industrial buildings, religious structures and cattle sheds in the stretch from Old G T Road Bridge to Bajwa Nagar Bridge, without any action by the MCL.
In their report, the applicant stated that the Budha Dariya, as a natural water body (drain), is governed by the Notification dated October 18, 2018, issued by the Department of Town & Country Planning, Housing and Urban Development, Punjab. The said notification mandates a minimum 5-metre-wide green belt along such watercourses to preserve ecological balance, facilitate groundwater recharge, and prevent encroachments.
However, the MCL, “in blatant violation of the said mandatory provisions, has failed to leave the requisite green belt and has instead undertaken construction activities within the bed as well as along the banks of Budha Dariya.”
“Shockingly, the Department of Water Resources has also remained a silent spectator, permitting such illegal and environmentally damaging activities, thereby defeating the very purpose of the statutory notification and causing irreversible harm to the natural drainage system.”
The district magistrate and collector of Paschim Bardhman in West Bengal filed a report on the status of brick kilns operating in Barbani on February 18, 2026.
District administration officials, on inquiring, found that one of the three brick kilns (GRC brick field) has applied for consent to operate (CTO) on February 2, 2026. Two others (GMB brick field and Raja Bricks) have obtained consent to operate recently (December 12, 2025) after filing of the application before the NGT.
Since the three brick kilns were operating without statutory permissions (CTO from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board at the time of filing of the application) and two of them had obtained CTO in the recent past, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board should be directed to calculate environmental compensation and take regulatory measures.
The application before the NGT stated that the brick kilns were functioning in the area of Barabani without obtaining environmental clearance. This had resulted in serious respiratory problems and contamination of groundwater and soil. The kilns are also making illegal use of fertile topsoil.
Suryavanshi Earth Movers is carrying out illegal sand mining in Balda village of Kantapada tehsil in Cuttack district of Odisha, the collector and district magistrate of Cuttack’s compliance affidavit filed on February 24, 2026, stated. The report was pursuant to the NGT’s November 19, 2025, direction.
The joint committee’s inspection confirmed illegal sand mining. The committee called for appropriate action to be initiated against the illegal sand mining in accordance with the findings of the excavation report. The lessee/miner should strictly comply with the conditions stated in the environmental clearance issued by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.
Since the 700-metre approach road has been found to be existing on the riverbed in contravention of the approved mining map, the opinion of the water resources department is required to assess feasibility and impact on the flow of water.
The application filed before the NGT stated that the miner is illegally using heavy machinery/excavators to mine sand, which adversely impacts the Balada river’s flow velocity, discharge capacity, and sediment transport capacity, causing floods and affecting villagers’ lives.