The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday directed the Centre against release of funds for cleaning the Ganga from Gomukh to Kanpur without its prior permission. It expressed disappointment over the lackadaisical attitude of the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Governments on the issue of cleaning of the holy river.
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation through National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) not to grant funds to the two State Governments.
The directions came after the officers from UP and Uttarakhand failed to satisfy the Bench about different points of pollution in the river in both the States.
During the hearing, petitioner and advocate MC Mehta, who has sought cleaning of the Ganga, said there was discharge of sewage, trade effluents and other pollutants due to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in Uttarakhand and UP.
He further alleged that there was no data on sewage generation in both the states resulting in a “blame game” by each other. The Environment Ministry, State Pollution Control Boards and other authorities should look into the quantum of pollution caused by each state and deal with it accordingly, he added.
Earlier, the tribunal on December 23, 2015 had held a meeting of stakeholders including Chief Secretaries and other senior officers from the two States on the issue.
It had then divided the cleaning work of the Ganga into various segments including Gomukh to Haridwar, Haridwar to Kanpur, Kanpur to UP border and extending to border of Jharkhand and border of Jharkhand to Bay of Bengal.
Further, on December 11, last year, the tribunal had imposed a complete ban on use of plastic of any kind from Gomukh to Haridwar along the Ganga with effect from February 1. It had imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000 per day on erring hotels, dharamshalas and ashrams spewing waste into the river.