LUCKNOW, Uttar Pradesh: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the state authorities to start criminal proceedings against officials in charge of municipal corporations and industrial development authorities across seven districts in Uttar Pradesh’s National Capital Region (NCR). NGT is hearing a series of complaints regarding discharging industrial effluents into the Hindon River.
The city officials who have drawn the wrath of the green tribunal include Ghaziabad, Meerut, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Saharanpur.
The bench comprising of Sudhir Agarwal, Arun Kumar Tyagi, and A Senthil Vel observed that the government departments have failed to restore the polluted stretch of the Hindon River. Although the authorities have already submitted an action plan, the condition of the Hindon River hasn’t improved. For the past two years, the environmental court has been urging the pollution control board and urban local bodies to take preventive measures.
A list of 72 drains discharging pollutants in the Hindon River has also been compiled. However, it was found that 48 drains have remained untapped and the untreated effluents were allowed to flow into the river. The authorities have also failed to take effective measures against the industries responsible for the effluents.
As per the order of the environmental court, the municipal commissioners, executive heads of the municipal corporations and councils, and chief executive officers of Noida authority and Greater Noida authority are also liable to face actions.