Who dumped debris on floodplain, asks NGT

Debris on the Yamuna floodplain, where Art of Living is building huge structures for its world culture festival, was the focus of the hearing at the National Green Tribunal on Tuesday.

The tribunal is hearing a petition against the festival, which will held from March 11-13. The petitioners alleged that the preparation for the mega event had damaged the eco-sensitive floodplain. But Art of Living argued that there would be no ‘permanent’ damage to the area and the organisation would help clean the river.

The Delhi Development Authority, which owns the land, said no debris was present at the site given to Art of Living to organise the festival. But the organisation claimed that it wrote to DDA about the debris and sought permission to clear it, which the DDA granted.

Dumping of debris on the floodplain is banned but it has been used to create walkways, ramps, and the seating area for the festival. Road rollers were used to compact the debris. Environmentalists claimed that this would reduce the capacity of the floodplain to recharge groundwater and increase the threat of flood in the adjoining areas.

“There was no debris on the floodplain. The expert committee reports have verified this. When we gave permission for removal of debris, we meant if there is any debris they could remove it and level land but keeping in mind the orders of the NGT,” DDA’s lawyer Rajeev Bansal said.

Art of Living said it took all the necessary permissions and levelling land was necessary to hold the festival.

NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar took the DDA to task on the debris. “You say there was no debris in the area. If someone dumped debris on the floodplain, why did you not find it? You said you have quick response teams and 24-hour security in the area. Where is the debris coming from?” Kumar asked.

The green court questioned DDA’s decision to give permission for the event after refusing the same in November .

“The land is under my jurisdiction and I have the full authority to give for recreational use. The land use says the area can be used for recreation and recreation has not been defined. We told the organisers they will have to take permission from every authority applicable for the festival,” Bansal said.

He questioned the petitioner’s delay in approaching the tribunal. “Why did they sit twiddling their thumbs when they knew about it in November itself ? They wrote to the DDA, why didn’t they approach the tribunal?” he said.

The tribunal also came down heavily on the Union ministries of environment and water resources, asking why they didn’t look into the matter earlier.

The NGT chairperson also asked the ministry of water resources’ counsel to find out if they had given permission for the construction of pontoon bridges and if they considered its ecological impact.