NGT issued notices to five-star hotels, malls to explain failure to harvest rainwater

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 26 April 2015 issued notices to nine five-star hotels and 23 malls in Delhi to explain failure to harvest rainwater. The notice was issued by a Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.

The notice was issued for not complying with the requirement of providing rainwater harvesting systems or for having systems that are not operating satisfactorily.

While issuing the notices, the NGT also directed that all the hotels and malls declare their source of water and produce complete records of six months by 11 May 2015.

The Tribunal’s order came after a joint inspection team of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) submitted its report regarding the status of rainwater harvesting systems at commercial complexes, malls and hotels.

The five star hotels against which the Tribunal issued notice include establishments such as Asian Hotels Limited (Hyatt Regency), Hotel Excelsior (Shangri-La) Jaypee Siddharth, Piccadily Hotel, Tirupati Infraprojects Pvt Ltd (Indus Hotels and Spa), Aman Hospitality (Kempinski Ambience), Eros Resorts and Hotels Pvt Ltd (Double Tree by Hilton), Eros Resorts and Hotels Pvt Ltd (Hilton) and Ibis Hotel.

The NGT also issued notices to major developers of malls and commercial complexes including DLF Home Developers Limited, DLF Retail Developers Limited, Aditya Infra Developers Private Limited, Aggarwal Plaza Private Limited among others.

In addition, the Tribunal also directed the CGWA, the DPCC and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to conduct joint inspection and find out the level of groundwater in and around these malls and hotels.