The next hearing of the National Green Tribunal bench is slated to be on 16 August 2023.
National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 30 May, on the personal assurance of the newly appointed Principal Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, gave two more months to them to implement the earlier direction regarding the measures to control pollution in Doodh Ganga River and another nearby river, known locally as Mammath Kul.
The next hearing of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench is slated to be conducted on August 16, 2023. It is in place to mention that earlier the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed the J&K government to ensure that no liquid waste enters the Doodh Ganga River and Mammath Kul within the districts of Budgam and Srinagar.
In the previous order, the NGT had also directed the J&K government to install sewage treatment plants (STPs) along the Doodh Ganga River in the rural areas of Budgam and urban areas of Srinagar. The government of Jammu and Kashmir had assured the NGT during that previous hearing that they will immediately allocate Rs 149 crore to the agencies concerned for the purpose of installing STPs.
The government of J&K was also asked by the NGT to take measures for the immediate halt to the illegal mining in the river bed of Doodh Ganga and Mammath Kul. After the personal assurance by the Principal Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Department, the NGT granted two more months to the J&K government to take visible steps for the compliance with the direction provided by NGT in the earlier orders.
It is in place to mention that the NGT has passed directions on the grievance filed by Raja Muzaffar Bhat a social and environmental activist in Kashmir. While talking to this reporter, Raja Muzaffar said that the government has failed to prevent illegal mining, discharge sewerage and dumping of solid waste in both Doodh Ganga and Mammath Kul rivers. He said that all the river-fed streams in Kashmir valley are facing the grave threat of pollution as the government is not serious about tackling the problem on the ground.
Earlier, the NGT imposed a Rs 35 crore penalty on the J&K government for failing to control the pollution of Doodh Ganga and Mammath Kul. It is in place to mention that Doodh Ganga is the tributary of River Jhelum and owes its origin to the glaciers of Peer Panchal Hill Range of Kashmir.
Doodh Ganga is also a major source of drinking water in many parts of Srinagar city and adjoining central district of Budgam. The water supply scheme established decades back has got the name as Doodh Ganga water supply scheme. The NGT has already expressed sharp concern during the earlier hearings over the serious lapses on the part of the J&K administration failing to control illegal mining in the river bed of Doodh Ganga and not taking remedial action on the ground to control pollution in this river.