Yamuna will take 10 yrs to recover from AOL fest: NGT
The damage to the Yamuna floodplains caused by the Art of Living’s three-day cultural festival last year will cost more than Rs42 crore and at least 10 years to fix, according to the expert panel appointed by the National Green Tribunal. The Foundation has, however, called the committee biased .
The expert panel, headed by Shashi Shekhar, secretary of ministry of water resources, submitted its report to the NGT on Wednesday, on damage assessment following the Art of Living’s three-day World Culture Festival in March 2016.
The panel has suggested a time-bound action plan, which comprises two components physical and biological rehabilitation. The physical component is estimated to cost around Rs 28.73 crore and the biological part would cost around Rs 13.29 crore. The 47-page report estimates that approximately 120 hectares (about 300 acres) of floodplains of west (right bank) of the river Yamuna and about 50 hectares (120 acres) floodplains of the eastern side (left bank) of the river have been adversel impacted ecologically at diffe - ent magnitudes.
The Art of Living spokesperson, however, has alleged “bias beyond doubt.” “The Expert Committee members of the NGT who were supposed to be non-interested parties to the case and were to act as the eyes and ears of judges have given biased interviews in public while the case is sub-judice... The closeness of the petitioner with the expert committee members was not disclosed to us when it was appointed by NGT and went into the preparation of the report,” said Kedar Desai, the spokesper- son. Desai said the Art of Living Foundation is a “responsible and environmentally sensitive NGO” and its legal team will be looking into the report to decide on the appropriate future action