Soon You Will Be Fined Rs 50,000 For Dumping Trash In Ganga, NGT Has Strongly Recommended This

Those who are not ready to listen to the appeals of government for not throwing waste in the rivers may soon be fined Rs 50,000, as the National Green Tribunal has strongly recommended this fine to make sure that there is no more damage to the water bodies.

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According to reports, the green tribunal has said this after a Supreme Court blow to environmentalists after the court stayed an Uttarakhand High Court order declaring the Ganga and Yamuna rivers "living entities".

On Thursday, a bench of the NGT, headed by chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, directed authorities to impose the Rs 50,000 for-dumping penalty.

It also recommended that waste dumping not be allowed within 500 metres from the edge of the Ganga on the Haridwar-Unnao stretch. In addition, it said the area within 100 metres from the edge of the Ganges, on the same stretch, be declared a 'no-development zone'.

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The green tribunal then said Uttar Pradesh should be "duty-bound" to shift tanneries from Jajmau to Unnao, or to any other place it considers appropriate, within six weeks, PTI reported.

In April, the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government had favoured moving the British-era tanneries to Kanpur, PTI reported. The UP government had told the NGT that the hunt for a new site for these leather units, which are the "major source of pollution" in Ganga, was under consideration and would be identified soon.

The NGT issued tannery-specific directions on Wednesday as well. It directed the tannery clusters located at Banther and Unnao, on the banks of the Ganga, to install chromium recovery plants within four weeks, so they do not discharge any effluent into the drains pouring into the river.

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Chromium recovery plants help in removing trivalent chromium from tannery wastewater which is produced during the processing of animal hides.