Summary:
The organization had raised the issue of civic authorities discharging sewage and municipal waste into ponds and other water bodies in Govardhan. AGRA: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the state government to enact a legislation to constitute a shrine board for three temples — Mansi Ganga, Dhanghati and Jatipura — in the temple town of Govardhan in Mathura district and get it approved from the cabinet within 15 days.The green panel directed the state government to take up the bill in the next assembly session and get it approved within the time frame stipulated by it. The tribunal warned that in case the Ring Road is not completed by the said date, then the official concerned shall be made accountable and appropriate order will be passed against him.Applicant’s council Sarthak Chaturvedi said there is lack of sufficient traffic police at Parkirama Marg on Govardhan hill and that creates chaos on common days and the situation worsens on special occasions like ‘Purnima’ and ‘Ekadashi’. The direction were issued after additional chief secretary of the state, A K Awasthi, told a bench headed by Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore that a draft for the shrine board has been prepared and processed through inter-department consultation and now, it has be to placed before the cabinet for approval.Awasthi told the green panel that some information relating to the assets of the temple is awaited from the receivers of Mansa Ganga and Danghati, who manage the temples and are civil judges appointed by the high court.The tribunal ordered the receivers to send the information to the chief secretary within one week.The official told the panel that the construction of the entire Ring Road, which was proposed to divert traffic movement from the town area, will be completed by October 31 this year. The tribunal directed the state government to take up the matter on priority and said the needful should be done by February 28, 2019, failing which the official concerned shall be held accountable.The court also directed senior divisional magistrate (SDM) to ensure that no construction is started in the prohibited area.Mathura district magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra was directed by the NGT to seek periodical reports relating to collection, segregation and dumping of municipal solid waste by an NGO, Muskan Jyoti Samiti.The green tribunal also directed the DM and Mathura Vrindavan Development Authority (MVDA) not to allow any private parking and said local police should ensure that no such parking is in existence.The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by Mathura-based Giriraj Parikrama Sanrakshan Sansthan and others seeking compliance of the NGT's August 4, 2015 directions..