NGT issues notice to Pb govt over canal revamp

Times News Network
Ludhiana: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, forest department and irrigation department of Punjab on a petition filed by the Public Action Committee (PAC) about final approval for modernisation/concrete lining of the minor canal (Ayali Khurd to Fatehpur Awana along Sidhwan Canal).
The order states that the ministry of environment, through an approval, allowed diversion of 1.05 hectares of forest land for non-forestry purposes, specifically modernisation and concrete lining of the R-2 distributary, which branches off from the Sidhwan Canal Branch, affecting villages of Ayali Khurd and Fatehpur in Ludhiana district.
Applicant Kapil Arora said on behalf of the PAC that while giving approval, there was no clarity on crucial details like the number of trees to be felled, although it was stated that it would not exceed the proposed number. The applicant claimed that around 250 trees were to be felled. While granting approval, the ministry did mention compensatory afforestation but did not specify the number of trees to be planted.
The applicant claimed that the approval had violated the notification issued on Oct 18, 2018, which mandated one metre of green buffer zone along minor water bodies in Punjab. The Tribunal has issued a notice to the respondents, requiring them to file responses via affidavit at least one week prior to the next date of hearing on Jan 31, 2025.
Other members of the PAC, Dr Amandeep Singh Bains and engineer Vikas Arora said that the part of the minor canal in question was just 1.15km long and was located behind illegally constructed restaurants/banquet halls. They claimed that the proposal was sent to the forest department by the irrigation department seemingly to benefit these restaurants/banquet halls illegally. They alleged that such units lacked a sewerage disposal system and the department wanted to provide them with one in an illegal manner.
From the condition of remaining portion beyond the stretch, it seems that the road may be built along the Sua Road, which would be totally wrong as the area is situated at an isolated place and is not creating any hurdle for any infrastructure project, they said.
Activists Kuldeep Singh Khaira and Jaskirat Singh said that they flagged the issue of illegally constructed restaurants/banquet halls before the NGT, which directed PPCB to take action on the complaint within three months, of which more than two had passed.
With the environment ministry granting final approval, they said that they immediately filed a petition to prevent axing of trees, saying that concretisation of the minor canal could be done without cutting trees down.