Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Water bodies for groundwater recharge in Yamuna
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on July 25, 2019 disposed an application for creation of water bodies and reservoirs in Yamuna flood plain for recharge of groundwater. “The tribunal can express no opinion on merits of any particular project. Concerned statutory authorities must go through the merits of such projects in accordance with the laid down procedure,” read the order.
The project will help retaining excess flood water of the river during monsoon season, according to the application filed by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Delhi. The proposal had been approved by a committee constituted by the tribunal this month on certain conditions.
They included: Project to be done on pilot basis at one location only to study the techno-economic viability and identify the quantum of the ground water recharged, and piezometers should be installed near the proposed site and downstream prior to the study to compute the rise in groundwater levels due to creation of the pond.
Water pollution in Punjab district
The tribunal on July 25, 2019 directed a committee to investigate the allegation that setting up of sewage treatment plants and effluent treatment plants in Punjab’s Fazilka district is being obstructed. The allegation stated that polluted water was affecting the environment and public health in the district.
The committee comprises Fazilka district magistrate, Punjab State Pollution Control Board, director, Department of Local Government, Punjab, and Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
Desilting drains in south Delhi
The NGT asked the South Delhi Municipal Corporation on July 25, 2019 to submit a report on the execution of the August 1, 2016 order that directed it to clean and de-silt all drains, particularly the one abutting the Ram Thakur Mandir along the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road. The tribunal had set a month’s deadline.
Neither the drain is being desilted nor cleaned, claimed applicant Thakur Ram Chandra Dev Association.
Filling up of water bodies
The NGT on July 25, 2019 ordered that a three-member committee be formed to look into the allegations that water bodies were being filled to convert land into residential and commercial plots by Nagar Palika, Nagina, Bijnor district, Uttar Pradesh.
The committee will include the Bijnor district magistrate, Nagar Palika Nagina and Uttar Pradesh State Pollution Control Board.
Green belt encroachment
The NGT directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Delhi July 25, 2019 to submit a report on the issue of illegal construction by Delhi Development Authority in an area marked as a green belt in Mayapuri. Applicant Jitender Dhir said the Deputy Conservator of Forest in December 2015 had also raised such an objection.
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