A three-member bench, headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, asked the DDA to name one of their senior officer for the committee and submit the report within a week.
In the Art of Living (AOL) Yamuna floodplains matter, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to supervise formation of a high-level committee that will submit an action plan to the Tribunal on rehabilitate Yamuna floodplains. The NGO had held a mega-event on the floodplains in March 2016 to celebrate its 35th anniversary.
A three-member bench, headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, asked the DDA to name one of their senior officer for the committee and submit the report within a week.
"This committee shall submit an action plan with reference to floodplains of Yamuna where AOL's event was held last year," it said. The bench said that the action plan has to be prepared in consonance with the recommendations of an expert panel it had earlier appointed to study the damage caused to Yamuna floodplains. DDA is the legal custodian of the Yamuna floodplains and has said in the past that the NGO's mega-event happened in Zone-O of the floodplains, that is reserved for recreational purposes.
In April, the expert panel recommended in its report to NGT that the NGO and government agencies should pay up Rs 42 crore for rehabiliation of the Yamuna floodplains, for damage done during the NGO's March event.
During the hearing, senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, who appeared for petitoner Manoj Mishra urged the bench to pass urgent directions to restore the floodplains. He argued that rehabilitation and rejuvenation of the floodplains was needed urgently, especially since the monsoon has arrived already. Nikhil Sakahrdande, advocate for AOL differed and said that there was no urgency as other issues were still being heard.
The Art of Living Foundation had contended during past hearings in May that the expert committee's report was inconsistent and based on limited data. The NGO has already filed a bias application in NGT which is yet to be heard.
The matter is listed for next hearing on July 28.
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