The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the authorities to ensure that no municipal solid waste (MSW) is thrown into Kishore Sagar Lake in Chhattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The Central Zone Bench of NGT comprising Justice Dalip Singh also directed the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board to ensure regular monitoring of quality of water in the lake.
"The municipal authorities in consultation with the regional office of the MP Pollution Control Board shall ensure that no untreated sewage from the surrounding areas is allowed to flow into Kishore Sagar Lake in Chhattarpur.
"The state pollution control board shall ensure regular monitoring of the quality of water and issue instructions to the local authorities for taking remedial steps wherever required," the bench said.
The bench also ordered the District Collector to take steps to ensure that suitable measures are adopted by the municipal authorities to check pollution within a period of six months.
It directed that any construction, post 1978, falling within the nine-metre no construction zone be demolished and cost incurred be recovered from the encroachers. "Likewise, any construction within the 10-metre zone after 2008 shall also be liable to be removed...," the tribunal said.
The order came on a petition filed by Brij Lal Mishra, a retired government servant, who had alleged that Kishore Sagar Lake has been encroached by various commercial establishments over the past years.
The plea filed by Mishra had said "a lot of residential and commercial constructions by way of encroachment have been made within the lake..."
Mishra had contended that the district administration and local authorities were allowing constructions to come up which have resulted in pollution of the lake and also causing its shrinkage.
