Following a plea seeking remedial action against a construction project in Ghaziabad for alleged violation of environmental norms, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed senior environment ministry and pollution control board officials to conduct an audit of the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to find out how “frequent blatant violations” are taking place.
A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel constituted a two-member committee comprising officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to look into the violations.
The committee will comprise officials from the Union Environment Ministry, CPCB, district magistrate Ghaziabad and Uttar Pradesh pollution control board, the Bench specified.
“The joint committee may visit the site and interact with stakeholders to verify the status of compliance. Based on the facts found, statutory authorities may take remedial action including stopping creation of third party rights and further construction activities, if the same are found to be in violation of the law,” the Bench said. The Tribunal directed the committee to furnish the report within three months.
The directions came when the green panel was hearing a plea moved by Saviour Park Apartment Owners Association, which alleged that construction was being taken place without requisite environmental clearances.
