Turn Yamuna Flood Plain Into Bio Park Or Pay Rs 5 Lakh Monthly From Staff Salary, NGT Tells DDA

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to stop farming activities on the floodplain of River Yamuna in the national capital.

The Green Tribunal has directed the DDA to reclaim and demarcate the entire Yamuna floodplain within three months. The environment watchdog has given the DDA another three months to convert it into a biodiversity park.

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¡°The DDA must take re-possession of the floodplains in case of encroachments within three months and fence such areas and convert them into biodiversity parks, as per the action plan proposed by them previously,¡± the NGT order on Wednesday said.

The NGT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also stated that the DDA will be liable to pay Rs 5 lakh per month till compliance of this direction from April 1, 2020.

It will be recovered from the erring officers and deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board for the restoration of the environment.

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The DDA has also been directed to complete installation of CCTVs on the floodplains to prevent encroachment, farming, and dumping of waste there.

In its order the NGT has asked the Yamuna monitoring committee, comprising NGT expert member B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra, to look into the compliance.

The NGT which was hearing a case filed by Manoj Misra, the convener of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan also noted that ¡°environmental pollution and destruction of Yamuna¡± is a direct consequence of haphazard growth in unauthorized colonies.

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It said that in the last 20 years, unchecked expansion of unauthorized colonies has led to the haphazard proliferation of vast habitations bereft of roads, drainage or sewerage.

The Yamuna floodplain which is span across 97 sq km in Delhi has been the victim of years of neglect resulting in rampant damage to the area due to encroachments.

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Earlier this year the Delhi Government had inaugurated an underground natural water reservoir to conserve rainwater in the floodplains. The first of its kind project in the country is aimed to solve the scarcity of water in the national capital, especially in the summer.