NGT declares 100m area from edge of Ganga as No-development Zone

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 13 July 2017 passed a few directions to rejuvenate the Ganga river and declared 100 metres from the edge of the Ganga river between Haridwar and Unnao as “No-Development Zone”.

The directions were passed by a NGT bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar.

Directions passed by NGT to rejuvenate Ganga river
• It declared ‘No-Development Zone’ along an area of 100 metres from the edge of the river and directed that this zone must be turned into green belts.

• The environment compensation of Rs 50000 will be imposed on anyone who dumps waste in the Ganga river.

• It prohibited the dumping of waste within 500 metres from the river.

• It directed all the concerned authorities to complete various projects including setting up of a sewage treatment plant and cleaning drains within two years.

• It directed the Uttar Pradesh government to shift tanneries within six weeks from Jajmau in Kanpur to leather parks in Unnao or any other place it considers appropriate.

• It also directed the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to formulate guidelines for religious activities on the ghats of Ganga or its tributaries.

• It divided the work of cleaning the river in different segments- Gomukh to Haridwar (Phase-I), Haridwar to Unnao (segment B of Phase-I), Unnao to border of Uttar Pradesh, border of Uttar Pradesh to border of Jharkhand and border of Jharkhand to Bay of Bengal in seperate segments.

• It said that all industrial units falling in the catchment area of the Ganga river should be stopped from indiscriminate extraction of groundwater.

• The concept of zero liquid discharge and online monitoring of affluents shall not be applied to industrial units.

The tribunal also appointed a supervisory committee, headed by the Secretary of the Water Resources Ministry and comprising IIT professors and officials from UP government, to oversee implementation of these directions passed in its 543- page verdict.