The National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to undertake restorative measures after it flagged environmental violations for constructing highway pillars within a protected pond in Delhi’s Goyla Khurd village.
The green body was hearing a matter in which it had initiated suo motu proceedings following a newspaper report about the NHAI constructing a highway over protected pond sites. The report claimed that the alleviated Urban Extension Road-II in Goyla Khurd village traversed the village pond, which had been designated as a natural wetland.
A bench comprising NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A. Senthil Vel observed, “The key issues for consideration are whether the wetland in question qualifies as a protected wetland and whether Respondent 3 (NHAI) has constructed the bridge on this wetland by reducing its area, thereby violating environmental norms.” The bench noted that the Delhi Wetland Authority had confirmed that the waterbody is indeed a wetland and requires protection.
Noting the evidence before it, the tribunal observed, “The status of the pillar construction within the water body by the NHAI is not in dispute. It is therefore evident that, by erecting eight pillars, the NHAI has encroached upon 2.36 sq meters of the pond, which constitutes approximately 0.23% of its total area.” The tribunal further noted that there is no record indicating that the NHAI had disclosed that the water body would be encroached upon or that pillars would be constructed within it.
