Agra, 2017.05.16 (TOI): The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday allowed the Mathura irrigation department to carry out sheet piling activity on the Yamuna river bed. Moreover, it directed the department to submit a detailed plan to the tribunal before the next date of hearing on drainage system and sewage treatment plant proposed to be constructed in the holy city. However, the earlier order of stay on constructions at heritage ghats will remain in force.
The court was hearing a petition alleging illegal constructions near the heritage ghats and in the Yamuna floodplain zone in Vrindavan.
Petitioner’s counsel Rahul Chaudhary said the court fixed July 16 as the next date of hearing in the case. The irrigation department will have to submit a comprehensive plan giving all the details of the work, it proposes to carry out. Meanwhile, the court has allowed sheet-piling work on the river bed, he added.
The NGT on November 30 last year had stayed the construction of heritage ghats and directed the authorities not to carry out any activity in the river bed till further orders.
Petitioner Akash Vashishtha in his plea stated that government agencies, instead of complying with the earlier orders of the tribunal, which sought demolition of illegal structures in the floodplain, went ahead and brazenly started construction in violation of the norms.
Vashishtha has opposed the the state government’s proposed ‘riverfront development project’ which aims at expansion, renovation and beautification work of Kesi ghat and 32 other ghats of the holy city at a cost of Rs 100 crore. He said such activities would cause immense damage to the environment. Vashishtha also challenged the construction of an interceptor drain, which will run parallel to the expanded riverfront and transport sewage from the Kosi canal and 18 different drains running through Vrindavan before eventually dumping the untreated waste into the river.
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