The NGT declared that 100 mt from the edge of Ganga will be a ‘No-Development Zone & no dumping of waste within 500 metres will be allowed.
A bench of the National Green Tribunal headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar on Thursday issued a 543-page verdict, declaring the area near Ganga as no development zone in an attempt to clean and rejuvenate the river.
An area of 100 meters from the edge of the river between Haridwar and Unnao are marked as no development zone and dumping of waste within 500 meters from the river is also prohibited according to the new statement issued.
The NGT has also issued a list of directions to the concerned departments to complete all the projects related to cleaning the river, including the setting up of a sewage treatment plant and cleaning drains, within two years.
NGT also asked the Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand governments to issue guidelines regarding the formulation of religious activities on the ghats.
Tne tribunal has also appointed a supervisory committee to ensure that the instructions issued by NGT are being followed and implemented properly.
The committee is headed by Secretary of Water Resources Ministry, and also includes IIT professors and officials from the Uttar Pradesh government.
The committee is also instructed to submit the progress reports at regular intervals.
Centre has allotted over Rs 2,000 crore under the “Namami Gange” program for the purpose of cleaning Ganga river.
The tribunal also warned 14 industrial units operating in Bijnor and Amroha districts on the banks of Ganga for polluting the river to be ready to be shut down soon if they did not stop the water pollution.

National Green Tribunal Chairperson Swatanter Kumar on Friday called for "more qualified people" in the state NGT boards while ruing the failure of environmental regulations due to improper implementation.
"We have state boards, which are headed strangely… one lawyer is the chairman of the board, you want him to deal with complex issues, environmental clearance… You must have proper qualified people as part of these boards to ensure proper implementation because they have to discharge immense responsibilities," he said in his address at the National Conference on Air and Water Pollution.
The event was organised by the Niti Aayog, EPIC India and University of Chicago and attended by officials of 14 state pollution control boards.
About the regulatory regime, he said that though there are enough laws in country — the air act, the biodiversity act and the environmental protection act to name a few, respect for them is lacking which is a serious matter.
"You cannot implement environment law without providing incentive to the industry… you can’t shut them down especially in a developing country like India," he said.
Praising the NGT as the only tribunal for environment in the world with such large jurisdiction and for providing affordable environment justice, he said this is a complement to India.
"I don’t think that anywhere in the world you have environmental courts and specialised tribunals of such jurisdiction.
The NGT chief also called for making access to environmental justice more easier.
"Probably we are the tribunal in the world that gives you (justice) in less than Rs 1,000…
Justice Kumar also urged people to have respect for nature.

“We have state boards, which are headed strangely… one lawyer is the chairman of the board, you want him to deal with complex issues, environmental clearance… You must have proper qualified people as part of these boards to ensure proper implementation because they have to discharge immense responsibilities,” he said in his address at the National Conference on Air and Water Pollution.
The event was organised by the Niti Aayog, EPIC India and University of Chicago and attended by officials of 14 state pollution control boards.
About the regulatory regime, he said that though there are enough laws in country — the air act, the biodiversity act and the environmental protection act to name a few, respect for them is lacking which is a serious matter.
“This is total failure of the regulatory advisory mechanism.
“You cannot implement environment law without providing incentive to the industry… you can’t shut them down especially in a developing country like India,” he said.
“So that a farmer knows that instead of burning he could get something out of it, maybe even Rs 10,” he added.
Praising the NGT as the only tribunal for environment in the world with such large jurisdiction and for providing affordable environment justice, he said this is a complement to India.
“I don’t think that anywhere in the world you have environmental courts and specialised tribunals of such jurisdiction.
“Probably we are the tribunal in the world that gives you (justice) in less than Rs 1,000… In a given case, a child studying in eight standard wrote us about trees being cut and dust being thrown into his school, and we took it as a case,” he said.
Justice Kumar also urged people to have respect for nature.

NGT imposes ban on dumping of waste on Ravi flood plains in HP.
The National Green Tribunal has imposed a complete ban on dumping and burning of all kinds of waste including plastic on the flood plains of river Ravi in Himachal Pradesh.
A circuit bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said the waste being dumped on the flood plains is a matter of serious concern as it pollutes the river.
"From the photographs placed on record, it is demonstrated that not only municipal solid waste is being dumped anywhere and everywhere, but even on the river bed… "Therefore, we direct that no person or government agency will dump any waste on the flood plain of river Ravi and would not burn any waste including plastic waste in open till the next date of hearing," the bench, also comprising Justice Dalip Singh, said.
The green panel noted that municipal solid waste was being burnt openly near the river bed which is causing air and water pollution.
It also issued notice to the Himachal Pradesh government and sought its reply within two weeks.
The matter is listed for next hearing on August 10.
The order came on a plea filed by Himachal Pradesh resident Dharampal Malhotra seeking action against indiscriminate dumping of waste near the Ravi river.
The plea had alleged that the state government and the civic agencies have turned a blind eye towards the reckless disposal of the municipal solid waste in the area.
(This article has not been edited by DNA’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

UPPCB, Cantonment Board to pay EC for pollution in Mathura:NGT.
New Delhi, Apr 14 The UP pollution control board (UPPCB) and Mathura Cantonment Board have been directed by the National Green Tribunal to pay Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively for causing pollution in the temple town.
"The problem of MSW is not confined to Mathura Cantonment Board or Mathura city but it is a national problem.
It requires collective, progressive and effective steps to be taken before the MSW is managed and disposed of in accordance with the law in force," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.
"We have no hesitation in holding that the UPPCB as well as the Mathura Cantonment Board have miserably failed to protect the environment and discharge their statutory and public law obligation in accordance with the law in force.
"Thus, we direct that UPPCB shall pay Rs 5 lakh as EC while Cantonment Board shall pay Rs 10 lakh for causing continuous air, water, ground water pollution…
They have also failed to seek permission for the use of trenching ground under the law in force and operating it without the consent of the Board or without any authorisation and in complete violation and disregard of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016," the NGT said.
It also directed both the authorities to pay the compensation to the Central Pollution Control Board within two weeks and asked the Board to submit application for consent to operate and for authorisation within two weeks to the UPPCB.
"Mathura Cantonment Board, within a period of three months would complete the construction of the wall between the river and the trenching site in question to ensure that under no circumstances the MSW should be permitted to enter directly or indirectly into the flood plain or in Yamuna.
"UPPCB shall issue complete and comprehensive directions in relation to collection, transportation, segregation and dumping of waste at the site in question in accordance with the SMW Rules of 2016, within a period of four weeks.