'AAP govt, BJP-ruled civic bodies will be punished in people's court for failing to curb pollution'

As the NGT asked the Delhi government Monday to deposit Rs 25 crore with the CPCB for their failure to curb the rising pollution in the city, a senior Congress leader said the AAP dispensation and the BJP-ruled civic bodies would be "punished in people's court".

Former MLA Mukesh Sharma, latching on to the direction of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), alleged that both the Delhi government and local bodies have "abysmally failed" in curbing pollution in the city.

"Salaries of the Delhi CM, Council of Ministers, MLAs and mayors and councillors of the three BJP-ruled civic bodies should be attached for their abject failure," he said.

The NGT asked the Delhi government to deposit Rs 25 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for their failure to curb the problem of pollution in the city.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also asked the AAP government to furnish a performance guarantee of Rs 25 crore with the apex pollution monitoring body to ensure that there is no further lapse in this regard.

It said despite its clear directions, there is hardly any action for compliance of orders of the tribunal and pollution continues unabated in blatant violation of law and under the nose of the authorities "who have hardly done anything concrete except furnishing excuses and helplessness".

The green panel said that even after more than four-and-a-half years, the complaint of the aggrieved parties is that the pollution caused by the unregulated handling of plastic continues to remain unabated.