New Delhi, Sep 2 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the member secretary of the National Capital Region Planning Board to decide on a complaint concerning alleged illegal construction in the Sahibabad drain buffer zone within a two-month time frame.
The green panel consisting of Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastav, judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, was hearing a petition that claimed the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) was engaging in unauthorised construction of the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) track and a station beneath the Sahibabad drain in Ghaziabad.
The NGT bench noted that in a previous order from September 2022, it had assigned oversight of the drain's protection to a joint committee led by the member secretary of the NCR Planning Board.
Therefore, the grievance initially needed to be addressed by this committee.
While the earlier order did not specify a time frame for the committee to consider the petitioner's grievance, the NGT bench decided that it was challenging to draw conclusive findings from the material presented with the petition.
Consequently, the allegations could be more suitably evaluated by the member secretary.
The petition alleged that this illicit construction within the drain's buffer zone had significantly altered the course of the drain on the Vaishali and Vasundhara sides.
The NGT said that its previous order had allowed construction to proceed, provided that all necessary mitigation measures were in place to prevent any alteration to the natural course of the drain and the addition of pollution.
In conclusion, the tribunal clarified that construction could continue in accordance with the prior order, while underlining the importance of preserving the Sahibabad drain and its surrounding buffer zone.
IANS
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