A three-day 'World Culture Festival' to be organised next month under the patronage of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar's Art of Living today came under the scanner of National Green Tribunal, which sought the Delhi government's response on a plea seeking to stop holding of the event on Yamuna floodplains.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notices to the Delhi government, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Art of Living Foundation seeking stoppage of ongoing construction work on the flood plains of Yamuna.
The green panel directed DDA to submit all the documents on the basis of which permission for the event was granted to the foundation. It also asked DDA to inspect the site in question along with Professor A K Gosain of IIT and submit a status report.
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The event will be held from March 11-13 at Mayur Vihar in East Delhi to mark the celebration of 35 years of The Art of Living. The President and the Prime Minister have reportedly given their consent to the part of inaugural ceremony.
The Tribunal was hearing a petition by Manoj Mishra, convener of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, alleging that the Foundation has recently started construction on the Yamuna flood plains for the festival in violation of NGT orders.
In a detailed judgement last year, NGT had prohibited any construction activity in the demarcated flood plains of Yamuna and asked its Principal Committee to identify structures which fall on the flood plain and recommend their demolition.
The plea, filed by advocate Rahul Choudhary, said "it is stated that Art of Living International Center has recently started construction on the Yamuna flood plains for organising the festival from March 11-13, 2016 and for which illegal and unauthorised dumping & construction in the active flood plains of river Yamuna in the NCT of Delhi is taking place over some 25 hectares upstream of DND flyway.
"Not only the site but in fact approach roads are also planned to be constructed from the Ring Road and the DND flyway which also involves dumping of huge amount of debris and clearing of the flood plains."
In his plea, Mishra has sought imposition of exemplary fine on government agencies and the Foundation for damaging the environment and their non-compliance of the orders of the Tribunal.
The petition has alleged that AOL has not taken mandatory
permissions from competent authorities like fire department, police and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
During the hearing in the NGT, where CRPF and Delhi police personnel were deployed after some Rashtrawadi Shiv Sena members threatened to hold demonstration, AOL also moved an application seeking four weeks time to deposit the fine and comply with all the directions of the tribunal.
AOL said being a charitable organisation, it is difficult for it to generate the huge amount in such a short period.
On being asked by the tribunal if the AOL had received the Rs 2.5 crore grant from the Ministry of Culture, the counsel for the foundation informed that Rs 1.68 crore had been disbursed to it out of the total amount.
The AOL had also sought that Rs 5 crore fine be taken as restoration amount for biodiversity park and not as a penalty.
The tribunal also pulled up Ministry of Water Resources for not doing anything to protect river Yamuna from pollution despite directions.
"What have you done? Have you inspected the river? Despite directions you have not checked pollution in the river," the bench said.
During the hearing, a member of Ojaswi Party was also thrown out of the court room for disturbing the proceedings with the NGT issuing a show cause notice to him for contempt of court.
Yesterday, the tribunal had directed AOL Foundation to pay the entire amount of Rs 5 crore by today saying law will take its own course if it fails to do so.
The green panel had also directed Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests to issue proper directions to the organizers of the event with regard to disposal of municipal solid waste and drinking water.
The counsel appearing for the DPCC had informed the tribunal that as directed by it, a committee is already visiting the site and if necessary, directions will be issued.
The NGT had earlier expressed its helplessness in banning the event, saying it was "fait accompli".
Nevertheless, it had imposed a fine of Rs five crore on AOL as environmental compensation after coming down on it heavily for not disclosing its full plans and also on the DDA and Environment Ministry for their role.
The tribunal, which found several environmental violations by the organisers, blamed the delay on the part of environmental activists in raising the issue before it which compelled it to grant permission for event.
