The National Green Tribunal on Friday summoned a Ghaziabad civic official to be present in court after he ignored the green body’s directives against concretisation of roads and parks.
The tribunal’s summons to Municipal Commissioner RK Singh came following a petition filed by environmentalist Akash Vashishtha over “mindless concretisation of green surfaces across the country”. The court, while hearing the petition, ordered RK Singh to be present in court on February 20. The court summons came after defence counsel admitted to creating pavements along side roads for pedestrians.
The court agreed with the petitioner’s lawyer Parul Gupta that the municipal corporation was carrying on with concretisation despite the tribunal restraining it. The green court also restrained Government authorities from violating the guidelines issued by the state Chief Secretary in April 2001 on restriction of the use of concrete and construction inside parks beyond 5 per cent of the total area. The plea raised the threats posed by mindless concretisation happening across all cities and towns of the country by Government agencies, without considering their ecological consequences.
The petition highlights how concretisation of roadsides and open spaces was preventing groundwater recharge and wastage of rainwater by up to 90 per cent, leading to an imbalance in a region’s hydrological cycle.