NGT appoints panel to look into nearly 52k illegal industrial units in Delhi

The National Green Tribunal Thursday appointed a committee headed by a former Delhi High Court judge to deal with nearly 52,000 industrial units which are operating illegally in residential areas of the national capital.

NGT has asked the committee to assume charge within two weeks and said the accountability for making the panel functional will rest on the Delhi chief secretary and DPCC Chairman.

The panel may inspect the hot spots and other sites for which Delhi Police will provide required security as necessary, it said.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel asked Delhi Development Authority, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and the municipal corporations to nominate to the panel officers of high competence and seniority who can devote time in the work and can be spared of other responsibilities.

"The mandate of the committee will be to take stock of the extent of violation of law and prepare a time bound action plan to deal with it," said the bench, also comprising Justices S P Wangdi and K Ramakrishnan.

It said the panel will also make realistic assessment of compensation for damage already caused and cost of restoring the damage.

The tribunal had earlier taken note of a news report published in an English daily alleging that thousands of polluting industries are being brazenly run in the city right under the nose of authorities.

The report had said that Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) recently listed 51,837 units operating from non-conforming/ residential areas and asked the three municipal corporations to initiate action against them.

According to the news item, the industries were leading to water and air pollution in the areas as they do not have license to operate.

"The analysis of the data released by DSIIDC shows most violations in Moti Nagar, Kirti Nagar, Ramesh Nagar, Najafgarh and Mansarovar Garden, all in west Delhi; Ashram, Bhogal, Jangpura, Maharani Bagh and Mahipalpur in south Delhi; Gandhi Nagar, Jheel, Shastri Nagar, Kailash Nagar, Jafrabad and Shahdara in east Delhi; and Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Malkaganj, Ballimaran, Lal Kuan and Kashmere Gate in north Delhi.

"Other highly affected areas are Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Anand Parbat, Rohtak Road, Rajinder Nagar, Old Rajinder Nagar in central Delhi; Shahdara, GT Road, Babarpur and Vishwas Nagar in northeast Delhi; and Burari and Jagatpuri in northwest Delhi," the report said.