NGT directs DPCC to submit report on Signature Bridge debris dumped in Yamuna

NEW DELHI: A committee formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on monitoring river Yamuna has directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to submit a report at the earliest on the construction waste from the Signature Bridge dumped on the Yamuna floodplains and obstructing the river’s flow below the bridge. In a letter dated April 23, the panel has given the authorities a week’s time to reply. 

The letter has also been sent to Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation Ltd (DTTDC), a government agency, which constructed the bridge linking north and north-east Delhi, and Public Works Department (PWD) to submit a similar report, which is managing it now.

The letter states, “It is a case of violation of environmental clearance as well as the orders of the NGT and the committee has warned that if the reports were found to be true, penalties could be imposed on those responsible for causing environmental damage.”

On February 10, 2017, the state Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) had given an environmental clearance to the bridge, with “specific conditions” that no waste, including construction spoils, should be dumped into the river and that the river’s flow should not be obstructed at any point.