Summary:
The organisation had raised the issue of civic authorities discharging sewage and municipal waste into ponds and other water bodies in Govardhan. Agra: Several illegal religious structures on Govardhan hill were demolished by the Mathura administration on Monday following the National Green Tribunal's ( NGT ) direction to remove them as these were constructed on 12 hectares of land belonging to the forest department in Mathura. The demolition drive was started two days back as per the directions of the NGT, the DM added.Pandit Dwarka Nath Bhardwaj, a local resident, alleged that the administration had "damaged many idols" while carrying out demolition drive.According to authorities, there are at least 33 religious structures that had been built on encroached land. He, however, said that if the allegations are true, strict action will be taken against the offending officers.The district magistrate said that idols from illegally constructed temples were shifted to other legal shrines with due respect. Sarthak Chaturvedi, the counsel of the petitioner in NGT, told TOI that a few mausoleums were also demolished on Monday as they were not exempted by the green tribunal.The NGT had passed the demolition order while hearing a plea filed by Mathura-based Giriraj Parikrama Sanrakshan Sansthan and others seeking compliance of the NGT’s August 4, 2015 directions..