NGT slams Centre, UP govt over pollution in river Ganga

The National Green Tribunal today slammed the Centre and UP government over pollution in river Ganga in Varanasi and said their slogans are contrary to actions.

"It is really very unfortunate that such things are going on. Why don't you do something about thisIJ Your slogans are very contrary to your actions," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar said.

The green panel pulled up the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Water Resources and UP government while asking them to look into the matter and deal with it expeditiously.

The observation came after advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal mentioned before the bench that bodies of humans and animals were being dumped in river Ganga and the authorities were allegedly not taking any action on the same.

On January 15, the bench had directed Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand government to identify seriously polluting industries located on the banks of Ganga and apprise it about "quantity and quality" of discharge generated by them in the river.

The green panel had also ordered a joint inspection by a team comprising officials from Central Pollution Control Board, UPPCB, UPCB and a representative from Environment Ministry at points where tributaries of river Ganga from Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh meet the Ganga.

Earlier, the Tribunal had directed the Centre not to release funds for cleaning the river from Gomukh to Kanpur without its nod, chiding the two states for failing to identify the seriously polluting locations.