The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday flayed both the Centre and the States for passing the buck on cleaning of the river Ganga. It has called a high-level meeting on October 19 to discuss implementation of the first phase of Ganga Action Plan.
The NGT has directed the Secretary or Additional Secretary of Environment Ministry, Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources, Chief Secretaries of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and other concerned officials to be present during the meeting.
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar said, “It’s a federal structure. Does the Centre owe responsibility to clear everything or the State should also share the responsibility. We have to look into this aspect and fix accountability accordingly.”
During the hearing, Uttarakhand emerged as a bone of contention. The counsel on behalf of the Government said the Centre had approved in principal `328 crore to Uttarakhand since 2008, but only `78 crore has been spent so far. He said several Sewage Treatment Plants were being constructed between Gangotri and Haridwar and alleged that Uttarakhand Peya Jal Nigam was not being able to execute the programmes. He suggested for setting up of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the implementation of the schemes.
The Advocate General of Uttarakhand responded that a total of 1,083 establishments, including 396 hotels and 436 Ashrams, were operating in Haridwar without environmental clearances and these will be shut down if, they do not take necessary clearances.
The Bench then asked the Centre to submit a map to show the STPs approved by it from Gangotri to Haridwar and their operational capacities. It pointed out that the Centre had spent nearly `4,000 crore on the rejuvenation of the river since 1985.