Item No. 11 Court No. 1

BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI

Original Application No. 523/2019

Vaishali Rana Chandra & Ors. Applicant(s)

Versus

Union of & Ors. Respondent(s)

Date of hearing: 31.05.2019

CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ADARSH KUMAR GOEL, CHAIRPERSON HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE S.P. WANGDI, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. RAMAKRISHNAN, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE DR. NAGIN NANDA, EXPERT MEMBER

For Applicant(s): Ms. Vaishali Rana Chandra and Mr. Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi, applicants in person

For Respondent (s):

ORDER

1. Grievance in this application is against illegal concretization and

boxing of the KOSHT- Drain in District in

violation of environmental norms affecting rain water harvesting and

obstructing the natural flow of water. The applicant has relied upon

an article titled ‘Gurugram’s acqua doom’ dated 23.03.2019

published in Tribune as follows:

“Badshahpur drain victim of urban development

The Badshahpur nullah is Gurugram city's arterial storm water drain, which has been encroached upon in recent years due to urban sprawl, reducing its carrying capacity and compromising the ability of the city to absorb rainfall. Backflow from the drain has been identified as a major cause of water-logging during the monsoons.

Following 'Gurujam' of 2016, the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) and environmentalists identified this particular stretch of the Badshahpur nullah, which runs through densely populated Khandsa village for 600 metres,

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as the primary cause of the floods. Just 10-metre wide, the drain here is the narrowest in its 28-km trajectory through Gurugram. It is about 30-metre wide in other areas. The carrying capacity of the drain reduces here from 2,200 cusecs to just 700 cusecs due to its narrowness. The National Highway No. 48 and the Hero Honda Chowk remain heavily waterlogged during the monsoons as rainwater flows back to the chowk and has to be pumped out to the other side of the highway. In 2016, The Government had decided to widen the drain to avoid another deluge-like situation. The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) is already on the job to remove encroachments and go ahead with widening the drain.”

2. Before proceeding further, we consider it necessary to require a report

to be furnished by the Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, Haryana

State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) and the representative of

Irrigation Department, Haryana about the impact of the

concretization and boxing on groundwater recharge, e-flow of water in

the drain and impact on urban sprawl on the recipient environment

within one month by e-mail at [email protected]. The HSPCB will be

the nodal agency for coordination and compliance.

A copy of this order be sent each to the Municipal Corporation,

Gurgaon, HSPCB and the representative of Irrigation Department,

Haryana by e-mail for compliance.

The applicant may furnish a complete set of papers to the Municipal

Corporation, Gurgaon, HSPCB and the representative of Irrigation

Department, Haryana and file an affidavit of service within one week.

List for further consideration on 05.09.2019.

Adarsh Kumar Goel, CP

S.P. Wangdi, JM

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K. Ramakrishnan, JM

Dr. Nagin Nanda, EM

May 31, 2019 Original Application No. 523/2019 DV

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