Tannuka Juneja
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to pay an interim compensation of one crore each for illegal mining, dumping of garbage and sewerage in the Dudhganga river. According to the NGT, the concerned administration has been unable to stop the violation of the environment.
The NGT directed the Chief Secretary to take immediate effective measures to restore the deteriorating ecological balance of Dudhganga and prevent contamination of the river. Action will also be taken against the officers who were unable to comply with the directions of the Supreme Court and NGT. Their carelessness is harming the environment and public health. said NGT.
On the petition of RTI activist Raja Muzaffar Butt, the NGT said that it is for the concerned administration to decide what effective steps should be taken to check pollution in the river and stop the violation of other environmental rules. Where the funds will come from will be decided by the administration.
The principal bench of the tribunal said that the investigation found that no action was taken to stop the dumping of garbage, sewerage and illegal mining in the river. The time limit given for this has expired. The state government is responsible for giving interim compensation amounting to ₹1 crore each on these three issues. This amount should be deposited in a separate account and this amount should be spent only on environmental restoration.
“The amount may be deposited with the district magistrate, Budgam and spent as per the plan approved by the chief secretary, consistent with the district action plan of the concerned area,” the order said.
The applicant had also alleged that the Srinagar Municipal Corporation was continuously discharging untreated sewage in river Dudhganga from 13 dewatering pumping stations installed at various locations on the banks of the river.
“Till date, no STPs has been established by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation or any other government body in the entire stretch around the river as a result of which all the untreated sewage from residential, commercial establishments, shopping malls, butcher houses, poultry shops, laboratories, diagnostic centres and domestic sewage are directly discharged into the river without any scientific treatment,” the applicant had said.
