LUDHIANA: Acting on a writ petition filed by two residents accusing the MC of engaging in construction on a green belt, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered removal of construction raised on the green belt area (Leisure Valley).
The NGT directed the MC to work under the supervision of the district magistrate and representative of Punjab State Pollution Control Board and asked the MC commissioner to submit a compliance report with the registrar general of the Tribunal within two months. The Tribunal added that the registrar general would place the matter before it, if necessary.
The complainant, Kapil Arora alleged that there was an encroachment in the green belts of Model Town Extension and Sarabha Nagar, where the zonal office of the MC is located. He claimed that the MC encroached upon the green area to construct office buildings. Besides, he said that there were also some private encroachments in the green belts of Model Town extension.
In a previous reply filed last August, the MC stated that it had constructed the building of its zone D office in Sarabha Nagar along the Sidhwan Canal in the year 2000. It added that no scrap/dump yard or store had been constructed on the green belt and the civic body had developed a green belt on barren/abandoned land behind zone D under the Smart City Mission. The civic body stated that it had undertaken refurbishment of Leisure Valley under the Smart City Mission. Work on Leisure Valley, which is spread on over 7.25 acres of land, had been completed and green area developed with 7,300 plants, 475 trees and parking area on 4.77% land. The MC, which claimed to have developed many green belts in the city, also held the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) responsible for other encroachments in Model Town Extension near the funeral ground.
The NGT formed a joint committee to verify the claims of the civic body, which submitted a report on May 30 after visiting the site with the complainant. The committee mentioned in the report that no forest land had been encroached but some green area of Leisure Valley and Model Town Extension had been encroached upon to some extent. The committee members mentioned that the office of MC zone D in Sarabha Nagar was not an encroachment of the green belt but they agreed that birth and death certificate registration office, scrap yard, office of the junior engineer, Lord Shiva statue in Leisure Valley near Model Town extension and four commercial establishments on the green belt in Model Town extension were encroachments. The committee recommended issuance of suitable directions to the MC and LIT to remove the encroachments and formation of a committee by both the departments to implement provisions of the city’s master plan. The NGT again gave time to the MC and Ludhiana Smart City Limited to file their response. In their response, the civic body claimed that the joint committee had submitted that there was no encroachment on the green belt (Leisure Valley). The MC said that since the site was earmarked in the notified Master Plan, no action was required. According to the MC, birth and death registration office, scrap yard and office of the junior engineer were places of public interest. The civic body said that the Lord Shiva statue in Leisure Valley near Model Town extension was installed prior to the finalisation of the master plan. The MC informed the NGT that four establishments in Model Town Extension had been sealed, as pointed out in the joint committee report.
The NGT cited recent orders issued in the Rakh Bagh case, saying that all kinds of encroachments should be removed. The Tribunal had asked Punjab Pollution Control Board to impose environment compensation on the firm managing the park for spoiling the environment.
MC superintending engineer Sanjay Kanwar said, “I have received orders of the NGT but the MC commissioner is on leave. We will wait for him to join back and take further action after discussions with him.”
