The National Green Tribunal (NGT) pulled up the Haryana Government on Thursday and asked it to explain why untreated waste continued to be pumped into a Gurgaon village in violation of its orders. It has directed the Secretaries from irrigation and health departments to appear before it on September 25, in this regard.
The directives of the bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, came in the wake of allegations of the residents of village Khalilpur that Haryana Minister Ajay Yadav was interfering in the matter.
“Sewage itself is a very serious pollutant. The purpose of environmental legislations is to prevent environmental degradation on the one hand and its improvement on the other,” the bench stated. The NGT ordered halting the construction of such a unit at village Narkatari in Kurukshetra district of Haryana.
“To perform these functions collectively and effectively, it would be necessary for such projects to get environmental clearance at the very threshold. It would help to further the cause of legislations as well as the larger public purpose,” the bench said.
In another order, NGT directed the Meghalaya Government to furnish the reports of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the FIR registered regarding a mining accident in South Garo Hills, that allegedly killed 15 miners in July last year.
While the NDRF stated that it had found no bodies the State Government contended that no one was hurt or killed in the incident as the whole issue was based on hearsay. The bench in turn questioned the NDRF, “How can it be no one was injured or died when there was an accidentIJ Did you conduct a searchIJ Dead bodies cannot walk away.”
The bench also observed the State Government probably “threw away” the statements of the three miners who had said that 15 workers were trapped inside the fateful coal mines.