tent city
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered an inquiry into the tent city set up on the sand across the Ganga. A seven-member committee has also been constituted for this. This committee will investigate and submit its report in two months. This will be preceded by an on-site inspection, which is to be completed within a week. The next hearing of the case will be on May 26.
The case was heard online on Friday before a bench headed by NGT Chairman Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel. Judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and environmental expert member Dr. A Senthil Vel heard the petition filed by petitioner Tushar Goswami and uploaded the order of inquiry on the portal on Saturday.
Advocate Saurabh Tiwari, on behalf of the petitioner, kept his point through video conferencing and said that the tent city has been set up on the sand across the Ganges. Due to this, there is a serious danger to the animals and the ecosystem present in the river and its surroundings. Untreated waste is being dumped directly into the Ganga. On March 17, 2020, the Turtle Sanctuary was canceled by the District Magistrate. The protection of turtles present there was ended, so that projects like Tent City could be set up on the banks of river Ganges. The NGT in its order said that if the allegations of the petitioner are true, there is a serious violation of environmental norms.