Ghaziabad Haj House sealed for polluting Hindon River

Following the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the district administration on Tuesday, sealed the Haj House in Ghaziabad.

The house was sealed since it did not have a Sewage Treatment Plant and the effluents were being dumped into Hindon, polluting the river and underground water.

A panel of three officials formed by district magistrate Ritu Maheshwari sealed the premises after conducting an inspection following the NGT directive.

The NGT had issued the directive on February 6 while hearing a petition filed by environmental activist Himanshu Mittal and three others seeking demolition of the Haj House on the ground that it had been constructed on land earmarked as floodplains of the Hindon river in revenue records.

The Ala Hazrat Haj House is a seven-story structure that has arrangements for foreign exchange, immigration, medical aid and other amenities for pilgrims.