Green tribunal summons Ghaziabad civic official over concretisation

The National Green Tribunal Friday summoned a Ghaziabad civic official to be present in court after he ignored the green body's directives against concretisation of roads and parks.

The tribunal's summons to Municipal Commissioner R.K. Singh came following a petition filed by environmentalist Akash Vashishtha over "mindless concretisation of green surfaces across the country".

The court, while hearing the petition, ordered R.K. Singh to be present in court Feb 20. The court summons came after defence counsel admitted to creating pavements alongside roads for pedestrians.

The court agreed with the petitioner's lawyer Parul Gupta that the municipal corporation was carrying on with concretisation despite the tribunal restraining it.

The green court also restrained government authorities from violating the guidelines issued by the state chief secretary in April 2001 on restriction of the use of concrete and construction inside parks beyond five percent of the total area.

The plea raised the threats posed by mindless concretisation happening across all cities and towns of the country by government agencies, without considering their ecological consequences.

The petition highlights how concretisation of roadsides and open spaces was preventing ground water recharge and wastage of rainwater by up to 90 percent, leading to an imbalance in a region's hydrological cycle.

It also states that "mindless concretisation in cities and towns was raising temperatures significantly".

"We had noted a difference of six degrees in the temperature recorded on a concretised area and that on a dry grassy area. This has led to the formation of urban heat islands in cities," said Vashishtha, the petitioner and coordinator of the Hindustan Environment Action Group.