NGT indicts Ghaziabad local bodies for concretising open areas

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has indicted the local and civic bodies in Ghaziabad for massive concretisation and slammed them for misleading the court.

A one-man commission set up by the NGT and headed by lawyer Guneet Khehar, after inspecting the area stated that the municipal corporation and the Ghaziabad Development Authority did not cooperate with it despite being informed in advance.

During the investigation it found that heavy concretisation was found alongside main roads, internal arterial roads, parks, highways and storm water drains. All the road burms were fully concretised. Drain water storms were either encroached upon by residents or by commercial establishments and were found fully stuffed with garbage.

"No traces of soil and spaces for rain water to percolate into the ground was found except in the house of the applicant. The entire periphery shown by the applicant was fully concretised with interlocking tiles and massive concretisation has been done in the close proximity of the parks" states the commission in its report.

Applicant Akash Vashishth had moved the NGT against concretisation of open spaces in Ghaziabad.

The applicant took Khehar to Nehru Nagar to the house of the former mayor, late D.C. Garg, where digging for concretisation along the road was in progress. At many places storm water drains were found covered by commercial establishments. No space was left alongside the trees without concretisation in sectors 2, 6, 8, 9 and 14 of Raj Nagar residential locality.

During hearing, when the report was placed before the NGT, the respondents- the civic bodies - prayed for time to file objections to the report of the commission.

The NGT allowed the civic bodies to file their objections, if any, within three weeks and listed the matter for Dec 17.

Earlier, the municipal corporation submitted that greenery would be maintained with full responsibility while the applicant submitted photographs showing that the walkways were being concretised in excess of the prescribed limits.