On Thursday, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a penalty of Rs 50000 on those dumping waste in the stretch between Haridwar and Unnao of River Ganga. While Haridwar lies in Uttarakhand, Unnao is a district in nearby Uttar Pradesh.
The bench which was headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the authorities that no waste dumping should be allowed within 500 meters from the edge of the Ganga. Also, 100 meters from the edge of the river should be declared a “no-development zone,” the NGT said. The bench acknowledged that almost 20,000 crores have been already been spent so far by the government for cleaning up the river and directed the centre to invest no more on the issue.
The NGT further added that they will form a supervisory committee to look into the implementation of the directions passed and directed the committee to submit a report on the same.
Last year in December, the NGT had passed a similar order for the preservation of the river and had imposed a complete ban on the use of plastic from Gomukh to Haridwar along the Ganga. In addition to the ban, NGT had also imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000 per day on hotels, dharamshalas, and ashrams responsible for polluting the river. This order was directed to come into effect from February 1 this year.
