NGT examines a petition challenging a proposed industrial estate located just 30 metres from the Rambiara river in Shopian, Jammu & Kashmir.
Applicant warns the estate falls within the floodplain, posing risks to villages, farmland and orchards across the river.
Separate NGT filings flag inadequate action by Hazaribag Municipal Corporation to curb pollution and encroachment at Dhobia talab and Jhinjhari stream.
Tribunal also seeks responses on the unrecognised Kotla Akhera wetland in Nuh, Haryana, which supports diverse birdlife but faces poaching and encroachment.
Authorities, including MoEFCC and state pollution control boards, have been directed to submit their replies across all three matters.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), on December 3, 2025, took up a matter concerning the proposed development of an industrial estate very close to the Rambiara river in village Sonium, Shopian district, Jammu & Kashmir.
The court directed that notices be issued to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir; the Irrigation and Flood Control Department; the Jammu & Kashmir State Pollution Control Board; the Gram Panchayat, village Sonium; the Block Development Officer, Lalpora; and the district magistrate, Baramulla. All respondents have been asked to file their responses, and the next hearing has been scheduled for February 24, 2026.
In the application, the plea of the applicant Raja Muzaffar Bhat is that the authorities are planning to establish an industrial estate at Trenz, Shopian, on more than 500 kanal (63 acres) of land. He alleges that the proposed site is only 30 metres from the Rambiara river and falls within the natural runway for high-flow floodwater and the floodplain of the river in Shopian district.
The applicant further argued that locating the industrial estate on one side of the river amounts to encroachment and will endanger residents on the opposite bank by increasing the risk of flooding and causing destruction of agricultural fields and apple orchards. He has stated that the Rambiara is a tributary of the Jhelum, originating in the Pir Panjal Range and flowing through the districts of Shopian and Pulwama.
Counsel for the applicant referred to the draft District Disaster Management Plan for Shopian, noting that one-third of the district is exposed to floods and flash floods. He also referred to the site plan of the proposed Industrial Development Corporation estate, highlighting that it is to be constructed immediately adjacent to the river on its floodplain.
Steps taken by the Hazaribag Municipal Corporation (HMC) are insufficient to protect Dhobia talab and Jhinjhari stream from pollution and encroachment, the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board has stated in a report filed before the NGT on September 15, 2025. The report was uploaded to the tribunal’s website on December 4, 2025.
On April 8, 2025, the NGT directed the state pollution control board to submit a compliance report on the completion of action plans, including revised plans, for the rejuvenation of Dhobia talab and Jhinjhari stream.
HMC has submitted a revised action plan comprising short-term and long-term measures. The short-term plan includes interception and diversion of drains, restricting encroachment, improving water quality and creating public awareness. However, the plans show that one drain from the south-west still flows into Dhobia talab and only five of nine encroachments have been removed.
The long-term measures include solid waste management, construction of a sewage treatment plant (STP) and removal of encroachments. The STP has yet to be constructed, though a detailed project report has been approved.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) was directed by the NGT on December 3, 2025, to respond to a complaint alleging that a wetland in Nuh district, Haryana, is neither officially recognised nor protected.
The National Biodiversity Authority and the principal chief conservator of forests, Haryana, have also been directed to file replies.
The applicant’s plea is that the Kotla Akhera wetland in Nuh district is a biologically rich habitat supporting a fragile and diverse ecosystem, including species such as the sarus crane, painted stork, Eurasian spoonbill, black-necked stork and several waterfowl species.
Despite its ecological importance, the wetland remains unrecognised and unprotected, the applicant argues. Counsel for the applicant submitted that large-scale bird poaching takes place in the area, supporting this claim by referring to a lodged First Information Report or FIR.
Drawing attention to the land revenue settlement records of Gurugram district, the counsel noted that Kotla Jheel is listed in the settlement documents. The court’s attention was also directed to the National Wetland Atlas of Haryana, which mentions Kotla Dahar Lake — identified as the same as the Kotla Akhera waterbody. The applicant contends that the wetland must be protected from pollution and encroachment.