Dumping waste in Ganga will invite fine of ₹50,000
People dumping waste in the Ganga will be liable to pay ~ 50,000 in environmental damages and there will be a “no-development zone” within 100 metres from the river bank”, said an exhaustive 543-page judgment by the National Green Tribunal on the long-running Ganga clean-up case announcing a slew of measures, fines and strict deadlines.
Unlike the past when the tribunal dealt with the clean-up one stretch at a time, the current judgment deals with measures for the clean-up of the 500-km stretch from Hardwar in Uttarakhand to Unnao that lies in Uttar Pradesh. This stretch includes 86 drains that deposit polluted water into the river.
The measures include precautionary dredging of all the drains that discharge effluents into the river and fines for dumping waste within 500 metres of the edge of the river and its tributaries. A zone of 100 metres from the edge of the river has been declared a no-development zone and turned into a green belt.
“We will do our best to book the culprits. However, keeping an eye on everyone coming to the holy city is a tricky business but we will ensure the NGT order’s compliance,” Hardwar mayor Manoj Garg told the Hindustan Times.
The NGT’s decision to declare no-development zone from the Ganga bank could be difficult to implement, said Ratan Aswal, a rafting operator based in Rishikesh.
“There is already a tab on construction close to Ganga but builders have easily flouted the norms in Rishikesh in recent years. I doubt if the NGT’s order will be implemented fully,” Aswal said.
All 86 drains and sewage lines must be dredged and the work should be completed within six weeks from the date of pronouncement, the National Green Tribunal said.
Work on the other projects must commence within years months, and laying of pipelines within two years.
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