New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday ordered closure of 124 industrial units polluting Kali, Krishna and Hindon rivers in six districts of western Uttar Pradesh and register cases against them. The bench, chaired by NGT president Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said that people have the basic right to get clean air and water. The bench directed the District Magistrates of Ghaziabad, Bagpat, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Gautam Budh Nagan, Shamli and Meerut to present the action plan to provide drinking water in a timely manner to the villagers.
Along with this, the NGT directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately seal all the handpumps which are getting contaminated water. He also asked to present an action plan to clean Kali, Krishna and Hindan rivers.
The NGT also asked the state government to make health benefits schemes for the people suffering from drinking contaminated water.
Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, on behalf of the petitioner NGO Doaba Environment Committee, said that due to the worrisome attitude of the authorities, children are forced to drink contaminated drinking water and arsenic due to which serious diseases like cancer are occurring.
Taking a hearing on a petition demanding a ban on cutting of trees in seven colonies of South Delhi, the NGT said on Wednesday that it is not appropriate to think together on the same issue in different legal forums. The bench, chaired by NGT chairman Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said that the hearing is already underway in the Delhi High Court and parallel proceedings should be avoided.
The green panel said that when the High Court decides on this matter, he will look into the issue. The bench said that on July 4, the Delhi High Court has ordered the same issue. It is not fair to think together on different legal forums on the same issue. Accordingly we avoid hearing. Earlier, the NGT had ordered the status quo on cutting trees in seven colonies of South Delhi by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC). On the last day of the hearing, the NGT said that no tree would be cut and the status quo on tree cutting would be continued until further orders.