NGT appoints court commisioner to inspect Vasundhara drains

The National Green Tribunal today appointed a court commissioner to inspect stormwater drains in Vasundhara township of Ghaziabad and inform it if waste and sewage was blocking them.
A bench headed by Justice Jawad Rahim appointed advocate Kush Sharma as court commissioner in the case while directing him to submit the inspection report within a week.
The fees of the court commissioner would be borne by the applicants in the case, the NGT said.
Advocate Sharma told the tribunal that the petitioner be directed to submit his fees of Rs 30,000 as court commissioner to the National Green Tribunal Bar Association.

"We appoint advocate Kush Sharma as a court commissioner for conducting the local inspection of the Prahlad Garhi village adjoining sector 16 Vasundhara to ascertain whether the sewer drain is discharging sewage into the stormwater drain maintained by the Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam.
"Inspect other rainwater drains and report whether any sewage pipeline was connected to the storm water drain," the bench said.

The green panel also directed the court commissioner to prepare a sketch of the inspected area for depicting the findings, with the assistance of an engineer from the pollution control board.
It also directed the Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam to provide all assistance to the court commissioner and videograph the entire inspection. The matter was fixed for hearing on September 21.

The tribunal had earlier directed the civic authorities to clean the rain water drains in sector 16 of Vasundhara colony and free them from all waste coming from the sewers in the nearby Prahlad Garhi village.
The order had come after the counsel for the petitioners contended that the monsoon would flood the entire area with the sewage due to the blockage of the rainwater drain, causing hardship and adversely affecting the environment and the health of the local residents.
The plea filed by Vasundhara residents K P Singh and other had alleged that the rainwater drain has been converted into an open sewer in Ghaziabad and sought its maintenance and a direction to clean all the drains in the area.

It had alleged that the drains remain choked throughout the year and hazardous sewer waste overflows on the streets, releasing "highly poisonous" gases which make the lives of the residents miserable.