Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in Supreme Court, high courts & National Green Tribunal
On January 16, 2024, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued summons to the district magistrates of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad for their delay in submitting a report regarding the identification and demarcation of the floodplain zone of the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in their respective districts. NGT directed them to appear in person before the tribunal on January 29, 2024.
The issue at hand pertains to unauthorised constructions in the floodplain region of the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in village Lakhnawali, Greater Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
The green court had previously instructed the district magistrate of Greater Noida / Gautam Budha Nagar to complete this identification and demarcation process within two months by its July 27, 2023 order. However, the report submitted by the district magistrate on October 31, 2023 was found to be unsatisfactory as the demarcation exercise had not been carried out.
When the matter was taken up on November 2, 2023, the counsel for the state of Uttar Pradesh had assured that the demarcation would be completed within two months. Nonetheless, a status report filed on January 9, 2024 by the district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar stated that it would take six months to study the Yamuna river and nine months for the Hindon river, as the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, needed more time.
Justice Sudhir Agarwal, presiding over the bench, emphasised that the responsibility for demarcation of the floodplain zone under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016, rested with the district magistrate. NGT had initially granted the required time based on the earlier assurance from the state's counsel.
NGT issued a 237-page judgment cancelling the environmental clearance granted to the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited for the Gare Palma, Sector-II coal mine project.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) was instructed to re-examine the matter, starting from the stage of conducting public consultations, due to legal flaws, including issues related to public consultation, the omission of Indian Council of Medical Research report, hydrological study and carrying capacity.
NGT directed a three-member committee to investigate the violation of environmental regulations and cutting of trees within the premises of the Government Senior Secondary School in Doomroli, Kotputli-Behror, Rajasthan.
Several trees had been uprooted, damaged and cut without the necessary permissions.
The committee was tasked with visiting the site and submitting a factual report on the actions taken within six weeks.
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