NGT questions SDMC claim on study before covering drains
11 Dec 2013 5:32 AM IST
The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday questioned South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (SDMC) claim that it conducted an environmental impact study prior to undertaking the work of covering of drains and building parking lots above them.
The SDMC made the submission before a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Swatanter Kumar which said, ‘It appears to be a plain and simple lie. This is a false averment made by you... Show us the original report made by you after conducting the study.’
The bench adjourned the matter to 17 December when the corporation has to provide the original report of the study it claims to have conducted.
The tribunal on 19 November had asked the SDMC whether it or any other civic body had ‘carried out any study or survey of the natural canal, now drains, in question before deciding to cover them, and the consequences thereof’.
The corporation was to provide an answer to the query today, but it could not.
The tribunal’s observation came while hearing a plea by a retired Indian Forest Service officer Manoj Kumar Mishra and Madhu Bhaduri, a former diplomat, opposing the covering of stormwater drains in Delhi to enable their use for commercial and parking purposes.
Their petition states that these drains carry sewage collected from various colonies of Delhi and covering them could cause excessive flooding during monsoons.
The SDMC made the submission before a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Swatanter Kumar which said, ‘It appears to be a plain and simple lie. This is a false averment made by you... Show us the original report made by you after conducting the study.’
The bench adjourned the matter to 17 December when the corporation has to provide the original report of the study it claims to have conducted.
The tribunal on 19 November had asked the SDMC whether it or any other civic body had ‘carried out any study or survey of the natural canal, now drains, in question before deciding to cover them, and the consequences thereof’.
The corporation was to provide an answer to the query today, but it could not.
The tribunal’s observation came while hearing a plea by a retired Indian Forest Service officer Manoj Kumar Mishra and Madhu Bhaduri, a former diplomat, opposing the covering of stormwater drains in Delhi to enable their use for commercial and parking purposes.
Their petition states that these drains carry sewage collected from various colonies of Delhi and covering them could cause excessive flooding during monsoons.
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