The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday issued an order restraining all individuals, companies as well as public authorities from throwing any debris or solid waste on the Yamuna river bank o

Costs to be collected for removing debris

With a view to cleaning the Yamuna, the National Green Tribunal on Thursday restrained any body, person or authority from throwing debris of any kind, including solid wastes, on the banks of the Yamuna or the water body near the grand old river. A Full Bench of the Tribunal, comprising its Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, judicial member Justice P. Jyotimani and expert members D.K. Agrawal, G.K. Pandey and A.R. Yousuf, passed this order after hearing counsel for various parties.

Pollution levels rose alarmingly in the river Ganges in Allahabad on the first day of the Kumbh Mela festival, according to a study by the state pollution control board.

On the eve of the first ritual bath of Mahakumbh, which started over a week ago, a group of pilgrims from Bangalore spot a body in the Ganga where it meets the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati.

“It was a grim sight ahead of the Mahakumbh. We looked the other way. What could we do?” said Santosh Lal, on her third Kumbh visit. Another body was fished out of the river at another spot the same day.

Arail (Allahabad): There is a Brazillian who is part of the Save Ganga campaign. Meet Swami Premji from Sau Paulo, disciple of a swami in Rishikesh, in Kumbh City to set an example and inspire Indians to save the holy river. He has come prepared along with 200 disciples. “We will start work on the project in a couple of days,” he told TOI.

His concern for the Ganga is 14 years old. “I came to India in 1999 and have seen Ganga deteriorating,” he said, recalling that last year when he was walking on the Lakshman Jhoola, the state of Ganga reminded him of Tiete the river that passes through Sau Paulo. “Tiete has turned into a dead river and authorities are struggling to give it a new leash of life. Fearing a similar fate for Ganga, I thought the time to act is now,” said swami Premji.

NEW DELHI: Time was when the Yamuna was a revered river and people from far and near gathered to take a dip in its waters, in Delhi, on every celestial event and festival. The French traveller, Francois Bernier, who witnessed a solar eclipse here in 1666, notes: "I took my station on the terrace of my house, situated on the banks of the Gemna, when I saw both shores of the river, for nearly a league (5.6 km) in length, covered with gentiles or idolaters, who stood in the water up to the waist".

Allahabad: Maha Kumbh, the world’s biggest gathering of humanity, is set to begin on Monday when an estimated 1.1 crore devotees will take the holy dip at Sangam on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. All arrangements seem to be in place except for one problem — there isn’t enough water in the Ganga for the mass ritual.

Experts at Allahabad University and UP Pollution Control Board said there’s just knee-deep water at Sangam and around three feet at the main bathing areas. The level in the post-monsoon season should be two-three metres above this, they said

A public interest project to mitigate NCR’s increasing water shortages initiated from the PMO in 2009 has seen another letter being fired to the PMO wanting to know why it is stalled.

Water activist Vani Sundarji (wife of former Army Chief Gen. Sunderji) wrote to national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon last week asking why WAPCOS, a public sector company, which had already done the original R&D study for the project and submitted it to Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has now been asked to adopt a merely supervisory role.

NGO urges L-G to strop misuse of green areas

To meet the increasing demand for housing in the Capital, the Delhi Development Authority has decided to change land use of a marshland in Dheerpur and announced a housing project for the Delhi Police on the site. Incidentally, the same marshland had been designated as a green area in 2010, after the environment department declined to allow a housing project at the site on the grounds that the designated area is fit for water harvesting.

A Parliamentary panel has criticised the Environment Ministry for its “business as usual passing the buck approach” towards the high level of pollution in the country’s rivers.