The National Green Tribunal will hold a meeting with officials of Uttarakhand Government on Thursday to deliberate on a strategy to make Ganga pollution-free in the State. This is a part of the proposed exercise of the green panel to take the issue of rejuvenation of Ganga stage-wise to clean up the 2,500 km stretch of the river spanning several northern and eastern States.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar has directed top officers including the Secretary (Urban Development), Secretary (Water Supply), Secretary (Tourism), Secretary (Environment) and others to be present on November 26 for the meeting.
During the hearing, the bench also enquired on the action taken by the State Government against the polluting units.
The green bench further said that it will ensure that there is total prohibition on discharge of sewage. Every public authority will ensure that there is collection of sewage from the septic tank and brought to the nearest Sewage Treatment Plant for treatment.
Earlier, it had warned of shutting down all hotels and ashrams running without consent in the stretch from Rishikesh to Haridwar. While stressing the need to clean up ghats in Haridwar, the NGT had asked Uttarakhand Government to ensure that there is no commercial activity on the ghats of the city.