Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed a joint committee comprising the Haryana State Pollution Control Board to submit a report on the state of waterbodies in Gurugram.
The tribunal was responding to a petition seeking its intervention for the protection, cleaning and preservation of a water body in Gurugram’s Sector 47 on August 4, 2023.
The water body spanning an area of about three acres is now being used as a waste dumping ground, the applicant said. It has been encroached upon and unauthorisedly used as grazing ground.
Due to waste dumping, the pond has become a breeding place for mosquitoes and other insects, leading to environmental hazards.
The NGT directed the committee to verify the factual position and take appropriate remedial action. The committee comprising the district magistrate, Gurugram, was asked to visit the site, verify the factual position and take appropriate remedial action. It should also file a factual and action-taken statement within two months.
The NGT directed a joint committee to probe into the complaints regarding the development of structures that block the natural flow of water. The tribunal was responding to a petition on August 3.
Attempts were made to raise permanent construction, obstructing the natural flow of water in Behrauli village, Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh. If the proposed construction is not stopped, adjoining agricultural land and the villages will be flooded, the petitioner said.
The applicant sought the tribunal’s intervention to avert irreparable damage by preventing further development of permanent structures.
The NGT directed the committee comprising of the executive engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the district magistrate, Bareilly, to visit the site, look into the applicant’s grievances and verify the factual position.
The committee should enlist appropriate remedial action and submit a factual and action-taken report within two months.
The previous orders of the Supreme Court and the NGT maintained that no individual can obstruct the natural water flow by raising any permanent construction.
NGT directed a joint committee to look into the allegations of waste being dumped in the basement of 14th Avenue, Gaur City-2, Greater Noida West, Uttar Pradesh.
The tribunal was responding to a petition on August 3. The waste collection centre in the basement of I Tower emits an extremely foul smell, causing a lot of physical and health distress, the petitioner alleged.
The applicant and other residents complained to the project proponent but to no avail. Along with the application, the petitioner attached photographs that show the accumulated solid waste in the basement of the building.
The committee comprising of Uttar Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), the commissioner, municipal corporation, Greater Noida and the district magistrate, GautamBuddha Nagar, should meet within one week, visit the site and look into the grievances of the applicant, the tribunal directed.
It should verify the factual position, particularly regarding compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and take appropriate remedial action by following the due course of law. The UPPCB will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance.
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