CELEBRATING CULTURE, BUT AT WHAT COST?
YAMUNA EVENT Authority says organiser is building temporary structures in areas where it doesn’t have permission
The DDA on Thursday told the NGT that the Art of Living Foundation hadn’t informed about the scale of the three-day cultural festival to be held on the Yamuna floodplain from next Friday. It said that temporary structures are being constructed without any permission.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority told the National Green Tribunal on Thursday that the Art of Living foundation did not reveal the scale of the World Culture Festival being organised on the Yamuna banks.
The authority said the organisers were constructing temporary structures in areas where it did not have the permission to do so. The foundation headed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar denied the charge.
DDA officials said they had given permission to hold the event on only 24.4 hectares. This translates to just over 60 acres of land. They said the organisers encroached on land beyond the area for which permission exists.
The festival, planned on the Yamuna banks between March 11 and 13, has drawn criticism from environmentalists and farmers for allegedly damaging the eco-fragile zone.
The grounds being prepared for the festival are spread over an area of 1,000 acres. The stage alone is set over seven acres and can accommodate 37,000 artists.
According to DDA, permission for a function of this scale was never given. A report submitted to the NGT by DDA officials last week, however, gave a clean chit to the festival.
The tribunal pulled up DDA for allowing such a huge function on the floodplains, where any permanent construction is banned. Organisers say no permanent construction will take place.
The DDA’s counsel said the foundation had sought permission to set up a platform and not such a big stage and had not informed them that millions of people were expected.
The Art of Living counsel said the foundation had informed DDA about the number of visitors a year in advance.
“We had got permission from DDA and the authority had a clear understanding of the scale of the event. The estimates for the number of people expected to attend are for the entire three-day event, including those not happening on the floodplains. The letter of request sent to DDA stated clearly what the function was about,” said Saraswati Akshama Nath for Art of Living.
Two NGT committees had concluded last week that it was too late for the event to be cancelled as the damage has been done. They had recommended a fine of ` 120 crore to make up for the loss.