NGT fined Uttarakhand-based developer DHDPL 20 lakh rupees for construction on Ganga floodplain

National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 22 March 2016 fined 20 lakh rupees on Uttarakhand-based Darrameks Hotels and Developers Pvt Ltd (DHDPL) for construction on Ganga floodplains.

It was fined for constructing a hotel within 200 meters from the Ganga river bank.

Main Highlights of the Order

• It slapped the environmental compensation on the developer for violating the order passed by Uttarakhand High Court. In the said order, the HC had prohibited construction of any commercial unit within 200 meter of the river bank.
• DHDPL also violated the conditions set in the Consent to Establish issued by the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB).
• The developer through the use of JCBs (mechanical excavators) for levelling the area has disturbed the immediate/direct catchment of the River Ganga by changing the drainage pattern.
• It also pulled up Uttarakhand government for issuing No Objection Certificate (NoC) to the hotel, located adjacent to the river, without inspecting the site in question.
• It constituted a committee headed by Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board to inspect the site in district Tehri Garhwal of Uttarakhand and give its recommendations with respect to the hotel project and its impact on Ganga.
• It directed the committee to submit its report within four weeks and prohibited DHDPL from further construction on the area till the time the panel submits its report.

The judgement came on a petition filed by Rajiv Savara, a chartered accountant. In the petition he had alleged that illegal commercial construction on the river bank was posing a serious threat to the ecology and causing irreparable damage to the river.

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