The National Green Tribunal has pulled up the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) for not providing “concrete action plans” pertaining to the rejuvenation of the Ganga in stretches where the river crosses the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said, “The NMCG has not filed the precise information about the status of projects planned and executed between Kanpur to Ganga Sagar. Thus, the affidavit of NMCG is of no assistance. The counsel appearing for the NMCG is not ready and merely dependent on (the NMCG officer), who is also not competent to assist this tribunal.”
Directing the NMCG to take remedial action to provide “assistance” to the tribunal, the Bench further added, “During the interaction, we find his approach to be that of the polluters instead of remedying the pollution which is the mandate of the law and the orders of this tribunal.”
Highlighting urgency of the matter, the Bench said, “Every drop of pollution in the river Ganga is a matter of concern. The attitude of all the authorities has to be stringent and depict zero tolerance to pollution of river Ganga. No amount of wealth generation or commercial activities can get priority over cleanliness of Ganga.”
