Half of judicial energy is spent on waking up the Government, the National Green Tribunal on Monday said slamming the Centre for not setting up committees for examining environmental impact of hydroelectric projects and development work in Uttarakhand after the recent natural disaster in the state.
The NGT also pulled up the National Highway Authorities of India (NHAI) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for not filing their reports and imposed costs of Rs 25,000 each on them. “Half of judicial energy is spent on waking up the Government,” a bench headed by former Supreme Court judge and NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said directing the MoEF to “start acting as people lives are concerned.”
The bench also said it is “surprising” that even in a matter of such sensitivity, the committees have not yet been constituted and directed the Secretary of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to expeditiously comply with the Tribunal’s orders and set up the committees and ensure they begin working within one week.
NHAI faced flak for asserting there is no section of road in Uttarakhand which has a chance of being affected by landslides, a claim which the Tribunal held to be “factually incorrect”.