NGT appoints commissioner lawyer for Vrindavan

In a petition filed by an environmentalist charging local administration with neglecting solid waste management and failing to provide land-fill site, the NGT has asked a commissioner to visit Vrindavan without prior notice and submit reports with photographs after physically verifying facts.

The National Green Tribunal appointed commissioner lawyer Rahul Khurana will now visit Vrindavan and review the situation. The local police and the municipality were directed to make arrangements.

"The problem of solid waste management has long been hanging fire. The local authorities had contested the charges but we have presented documentary evidence along with photographs of the ground realities," the petitioner Madhu Mangal Shukla told IANS.

Heaps of dirt and garbage still abounds and there is no scientific mechanism in place to process the solid waste, Shukla said.

The holy town is visited by lakhs of devotees and tourists every month, she said. "With connectivity provided via the Yamuna Expressway, the pilgrim pressure has gone up while the civic amenities continue to be woefully short of requirements," said eco-activist and convener of 'Friends of Vrindavan Jagan Nath Poddar'.