Representative image.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

New Delhi:

The National Green Tribunal has observed that the health of crores of pilgrims visiting the Maha Kumbh fair will be impacted if effective steps are not taken to prevent the discharge of sewage into the Ganga in Prayagraj.

The 40-day Maha Kumbh Mela, expected to draw millions of devotees from across the globe, is scheduled to commence on January 14 with the Makar Sankranti ‘snan’ (holy bath) and will conclude on February 26 with the Mahashivratri snan.

The green body was hearing a plea claiming 50 drains were discharging sewage directly into river Ganga, in an eight-km stretch from Rasulabad in the city to the Sangam (confluence of river Ganga and Yamuna).

In September this year, the tribunal had formed a high-powered committee (HPC) under the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and directed it to submit a report about the preventive measures by November 23.

In an order dated November 29, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said, “The HPC has filed no such report nor any written request has been received from it expressing any difficulty in filing the report or seeking extension of time.” The bench also comprising judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member A Senthil Vel noted the submissions of the counsel for Uttar Pradesh, as per which, there was a typographical error in a communication sent to him by the chief secretary on November 28 about seeking an extension for filing the report.

“Even if we accept such a submission, we find that though the order was passed by the tribunal on September 23, 2024, yet it appears that till November 7, no effective action was taken by the HPC,” the tribunal said noting the communication.

It underlined that the issue of river Ganga’s pollution was a “time-sensitive matter”.

“The issue relates to stopping the discharge of untreated sewage in river Ganga before the commencement of the Kumbh Mela. Crores of persons will be visiting the mela and their health and well-being will be affected if no effective steps are taken to prevent the discharge of untreated sewage in the river. We expect the HPC to be sensitive to this issue,” the tribunal said.

It expressed dissatisfaction with the government counsel’s request seeking 15 days to submit the report.

“Counsel for the state of UP has submitted that the report has already been prepared and it has been placed before the chief secretary for appraisal and signature. If that is so, we failed to understand why 15 days have been sought for filing the report,” the tribunal said.

“Considering the request made by the counsel, a week is granted to file the report,” it added.

The NGT said though it was inclined to direct the personal presence of the principal secretary of the state’s environment department, it was restraining itself, considering the counsel’s assurance about “prompt action” and no delays in the future.

The matter has been posted on December 9 for further proceedings.

In the hearing dated July 1, the tribunal, noting a report by the UP Pollution Control Board, had observed, “The action taken report reflects that the water of the river in the relevant stretch is not of drinkable quality for ‘achman’ purposes.” The plea has been filed by advocate Saurabh Tiwary.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kanwarias on their way. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

A fact-finding panel has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that more than 17,600 trees have been felled in three districts of Uttar Pradesh to make way for the upcoming Kanwar Yatra route.

The tribunal was hearing a case related to the alleged felling of more than one lakh trees and shrubs in the protected forest area across the three forest divisions of Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar for the proposed route between Muradnagar in Ghaziabad and Purkaji in Muzaffarnagar.

In an Order dated November 6, a Bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted that a Joint Committee formed earlier to ascertain facts had submitted its interim report.

The Committee comprised the Forest Survey of India director, a senior scientist from the Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, the State’s Chief Secretary or his representative and the Meerut district magistrate.

“The interim report states that as per the information furnished by the Irrigation Department, 17,607 trees have been cut in all three districts till August 9, 2024,” said the Bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member A. Senthil Vel.

The tribunal noted that while permission was granted to fell 1,12,722 trees, it had later been decided to cut only 33,776 trees.

It said, “The State of Uttar Pradesh is directed to clarify if the number of trees to be cut has been calculated strictly in accordance with the provisions of the U.P. Protection of Trees Act.”

The tribunal directed the Additional Chief Secretary of the State’s Environment Department to file an affidavit within two weeks, stating the number of trees that will be cut in the course of the construction of the route.

“It will also be clearly stated if trees have been cut beyond the width of 15 to 20 metres and, if yes, the person responsible for it,” it added.

Uttar Pradesh cannot go on with Kanwar Yatra, says Supreme Court

“Considering the fact that the seriousness of the issue relating to a public project, the Joint Committee is expected to complete the exercise as directed, expeditiously and submit the final report without any delay,” the tribunal added.

The tribunal also noted the Surveyor General’s earlier statement on October 16 about conducting a drone survey to identify the extent of trees cut on both sides of the canals.

It, however, said, “From the report submitted by the Survey of India that information cannot be gathered.” “Hence, we direct the Surveyor General, Survey of India, to trace out the satellite imagery of the stretches under consideration for the year 2024 (till October 2024) and file a fresh report showing the comparative position of trees which were existing in 2023 and trees fell till October 2024 in the stretches under consideration.” The matter has been posted for further proceedings on November 25.

New Delhi:

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken note of a social media post by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on forest cover loss in the state due to deforestation and illegal opium poppy cultivation.

In a post on X, Mr Singh had said Manipur had a forest cover of 17,475 sqkm in 1987, which decreased to 16,598 sqkm in 2021. He had said 877 sqkm of forest cover was destroyed, primarily to grow illegal opium poppy.

“Some mind-boggling data…evictions from the reserved and protected forests were carried out throughout the state. It was never targeted towards any particular community,” the Chief Minister from the BJP, whose policies the Kuki-Zo tribes hold responsible for the outbreak of the ethnic crisis in the state, had said in the post which included an explainer video.

On Thursday, the NGT’s Principal Bench in Delhi taking note of the data released by the Chief Minister said they raised “substantial issue relating to compliance of environmental norms.”

“The news item relates to the substantial decrease in the area of forest in the state of Manipur. As per the article, the forest cover in the state has been reduced from 17,475 sqkm in 1987 to 16,598 sqkm in 2021, which shows a decrease of 877 sqkm of forest cover,” the NGT said.

“It further states that this has happened mainly due to deforestation and opium poppy cultivation. The news item further refers to data from the Manipur Remote Sensing Applications Centre, which says that the area of opium poppy cultivation in Manipur has declined by 60 per cent since 2021,” it said.

The Bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, and expert member Dr A Senthil Vel then impleaded themselves as respondents in the matter, after which the NGT sent notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), and the Forest Survey of India (FSI).

The NGT in the notices said the MoEF and the FSI should reply within a week, and listed the matter for hearing on July 31.

The NGT said its Principal Bench is already considering the issue of loss of forest land across the country.

Manipur government sources told NDTV on Friday there had been strong pushback from the Kuki-Zo tribes when forest officials went to clear alleged encroachments months before violence began in May 2023. “Those who have encroached upon forest lands would approach the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes every time enforcement action began. We are exploring legal options to check misrepresentation to the Commission by the encroachers,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity.

Want To Take Our Lands: Kuki-Zo Tribes

The Kuki-Zo tribes have been for long alleging the Biren Singh government manufactured the forest encroachment angle to allow the valley-majority Meiteis to expand out in the hill areas. The Meiteis’ demand for inclusion under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category aggravated the tensions in a state where resources were already limited.

Kuki-Zo political leaders and civil society groups have frequently said a narrative is being formed to carry out “ethnic cleansing”.

A report by the Editors’ Guild of India (EGI) on the media’s coverage of the violence had also alleged the Biren Singh government did not follow due procedure in declaring parts of hills as “reserved” and “protected” forests.

The crowdfunded EGI report – made on the invitation of the Assam Rifles, according to the EGI – released in September 2023 had alleged the BJP government in Manipur branded all Kuki tribes as “illegal immigrants” after some 4,000 refugees fleeing the military coup in neighbouring Myanmar crossed into Manipur.

The evictions from and demolitions in “forest areas were carried out only in non-Naga inhabited areas,” which led the Kukis to suspect they were being “singled out”, the report prepared by the EGI’s three-member team had alleged.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests SS Chhabra in a seven-page letter to the Manipur government had denied all the allegations.

The ethnic violence in Manipur has claimed over 220 lives and displaced over 50,000 people. They have been relief camps for a year now.

New Delhi:

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to Jindal Steel and Power Limited in connection with the death of a worker after hot or molten slag allegedly fell on him at the company’s steel plant in Patrapali village in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.

The NGT was hearing an application registered on the basis of a news report published by PTI on August 22 regarding the worker’s death.

The application raised an apprehension of non-compliance with environmental laws in the process of disposal of slag, a byproduct of steel manufacturing.

In an order passed on Thursday, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board had filed a reply without touching the aspect of handling slag, which was the cause of the accident in the present case.

“In this context, the guidelines prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to deal with the handling and management of slag generated from pyro-metallurgical operations in iron and steel industries need to be referred,” the bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, said.

“Hence, at this stage, we deem it proper to issue notice. The registry of the tribunal is directed to serve the project proponent i.e, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Patrapali village, Raigarh,” it added.

The principal bench of the green panel said as the matter pertained to the Central Zone bench of the tribunal in Bhopal, it was being transferred for “appropriate further action”.

According to police, payload operator Chini Lal Patel died on August 22 due to serious burns after molten slag from the furnace fell on him.

BHopal:

The National Green Tribunal has ordered that cruise boats and other motor propelled boats stop operating in the Upper lake in Bhopal. The order came after environmentalist Subhash Pandey approached the tribunal, highlighting that a cruise vessel has been permitted in the “Bhoj wetland” by the Madhya Pradesh government.

The wetland is also a Ramsar site with international importance and has two lakes — Upper lake, also called Bhojtal (Bada Talaab) and Lower Lake or Chhota Talaab.  

Spread over about 31 km, the Upper Lake is an important source of drinking  water for the city. About 12 lakh people of Bhopal are dependent on this water body.  

Upper Lake also has a great importance when it comes to local climate, vegetation, ground water depletion and ground water contamination of the surrounding area.

It has more than 15 kinds of fishes and several vulnerable species including turtles, amphibians and aquatic invertebrates.

More than 2,500 migratory birds from across the world used to come regularly to this wetland for breeding and dispersal of seeds, leading to maintenance of biodiversity along their routes.

The tribunal said no permanent construction will be allowed within the “Zone of Influence” of water bodies/wetlands and if any permanent construction has been raised, it be demolished.

Dr Subhash C Pandey, an environmentalist, had alleged serious damage and deterioration at the “Bhoj Wetland” and other water bodies due to operation of motorised boats and cruise boats.
He also said small cruise vessels with passengers act as floating colonies that pollute water bodies with sewage, waste water and other contaminants. A mid-sized cruise vessel can consume 150 tonnes of fuel each day and dump toxic waste in water.

In the Bhopal Master Plan, 2005, it was said that no recreational activities should be permitted in the water of Upper Lake since it is fundamentally used for drinking. Recreational activities may adversely affect the quality of water.

Even so, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has started organising cruises in rivers, lakes and water bodies, which mainly comprise river Narmada and its tributaries.