New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Wednesday formed a six-member committee to prepare an action plan on dumping of muck, near the Polavaram dam in Andhra Pradesh.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel noted that there is an adverse impact of cofferdams on upstream areas and huge dumping of mucks has taken place without a proper environmental management plan.
"We find that the issue needs to be addressed by preparing an appropriate action plan by a Committee with relevant Experts and headed by a former Judge," the bench said.
The NGT constituted a six-member committee to be headed by Justice B. Seshasayana Reddy, former Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and with nominees of the Union Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Central Soil and Water Conservation Research Institute, Dehradun, IIT, Hyderabad and IIT-Delhi.
"The Committee will visit the site at least once and conduct public hearing, if necessary. Except for such visit, it will be free to conduct proceedings online. The Committee will be at liberty to take the assistance of any other Experts/Organization," the bench also comprising Justice S K Singh and expert member Nagin Nanda said.
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The tribunal directed that the committee will compile information about the extent of generation and disposal of muck at the designated dumping sites and safety measures being adopted for the stability of the dumping sites.
It will also assess the damage to the environment and consider the question of whether compensation for the acquisition of land remains to be paid, the NGT said.
“The Committee may commence its functioning as far as possible within two weeks. The nodal agency will be the CPCB and the State PCB for coordination and compliance.
“The State PCB and the District Magistrate concerned will provide logistic support. The State PCB will bear the requisite expenses for the functioning of the Committee, in the first instance,” it said.