Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked for reports from the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh and the Uttarakhand governments regarding actions taken to clean the Ganga in the stretch between Gomukh and Unnao as per the tribunal’s direction.
The Green Tribunal had passed a list of directions to rejuvenate the Ganga, which includes declaring 100 meters from the edge of the river between Haridwar and Unnao as a `No Development Zone’. It also includes prohibiting dumping of waste within 500 meters from the river. A complete prohibition on disposal of municipal solid waste, e-waste or bio-medical waste on the floodplains or into the river and its tributaries.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar stated that the government has spent over Rs 7,000 crore in two years to clean the Ganga and it still remains a “serious environmental issue”. The NGT made it clear that no excuses were acceptable but it required compliance to the order given by the tribunal. The bench sent a copy of the order to the chief secretaries of UP and Uttarakhand.
The tribunal reiterated its earlier order of ban on mechanical mining in Ganga and said that no in-stream mechanical mining is permitted and even the mining on the flood-plain should be semi-mechanical and preferably more manual.
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