The National Green Tribunal has said that land reserved for green belt, whether government or private, cannot be allowed to be used for any construction work. A bench of Justice Sudhir Agrawal and expert member Dr. Nagin Nanda said that the maintenance of water bodies is the main responsibility of the Statutory Authorities.
These comments were made during the hearing of a petition complaining of non-action by the statutory authorities in the protection of Laxmi Tal and nearby areas, declared as ‘Green Belt/Green Park’ in the Master Plan 2021 of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. It said that such places cannot be converted into residential or commercial areas. “Despite the above mentioned in the law of the land and the order of the tribunal expressing similar views, we are of the view that the stand of the authorities concerned is very careless and indifferent,” the bench said. We did not find any element of sincere, committed intent and also did not see the desire to take effective steps for conservation of green belt/reserved land for the park in the master plan.
The NGT constituted a committee consisting of officers of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Department of Agriculture, Uttar Pradesh, Department of Forest and Environment and the Divisional Commissioner of Jhansi. The committee will conduct surprise inspections within two months to send a factual report and verify the relevant records. It asked the Jhansi Municipal Commissioner, Jhansi Development Authority Vice-Chairman, Jhansi District Magistrate, Jhansi divisional commissioner, UP urban development additional chief secretary to appear before the tribunal in a virtual conference.
