Ghaziabad: Responding to a petition difficult the alleged concretisation of a significant drain in Navyug Market, the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal (NGT) accepted the report and proposals of an skilled committee and directed that the drain shall not be concretised.
The instructions by the tribunal got here in reference to a petition filed by Manoj Bansal. The petition contended that sewage and industrial effluents have been being discharged into the drain in violation of the Water (Prevention and Management of Air pollution) Act, 1974.
The drain, which is adjoining to the headquarters of the Ghaziabad Growth Authority (GDA), falls beneath the jurisdiction of the Ghaziabad municipal company.
The petition mentioned the drain has been coated and concretised by the civic physique in opposition to the suggestions of an skilled committee appointed by the NGT on October 13, 2014, pertaining to the restoration of river Yamuna.
“We have now accepted the report and have issued instructions when it comes to suggestions of the committee. We additional direct that the drain shouldn’t be concretised as a result of it adversely impacts charging of groundwater. It is necessary as a result of groundwater within the space has already been depleted,” the tribunal mentioned in its order on Friday.
The tribunal in July final yr, sought the formation of a joint committee comprising officers from the Nationwide Capital Area Planning Board, Uttar Pradesh Air pollution Management Board, the Ghaziabad municipal company and the district Justice of the Peace. It additionally sought an motion taken report inside two months.
The joint inspection was carried out on November 21, 2022, and a report was submitted earlier than the tribunal in December.
The Navyug Market is a significant industrial space together with residential areas and has been in existence for the previous 60-70 years, whereas the drain was constructed about three years in the past.
The petition report mentioned that the civic physique and representatives of land-owning companies ought to be sure that “actions alongside the drain’s catchment space are in accordance with accepted land use as this can additional guarantee regulation of strong in addition to liquid waste discovering its method into the drain”.
The report added that the drain ought to solely be coated in accordance with the Perform Plan on Drainage for Nationwide Capital Area (accepted within the sixty fifth assembly of the planning committee of the NCR Planning Board).
It additionally advisable that the company ought to conduct a survey of the drain and guarantee there isn’t any mixing of sewer into the drain.
“Bar screens needs to be put in at sufficient areas and strong waste discovering its method into the drain needs to be eliminated often from these areas,” the report mentioned.
The counsel for the petitioner mentioned that the problems raised within the petition have been admitted.
“There was an try to concretise the drain by inserting slabs and there’s a large movement of sewage into it. Town faces related points with different main drains and the company ought to take this order as a foundation and take motion on the problems raised,” mentioned Akash Vashistha, the petitioner’s counsel.
Ghaziabad municipal commissioner Nitin Gaur mentioned, “We are going to adjust to the instructions given by the NGT in reference to the petition and likewise relating to the skilled committee report.”