After paying an initial amount of Rs 25 lakh, the Art of Living Foundation has yet to complete the Rs 5 crore payment to the Delhi Development Authority for hosting an event on the Yamuna River Flood Plains, Rajeev Bansal, the lawyer for the DDA, told The Quint.
The payment was ordered by the National Green Tribunal days before the launch of the World Culture Festival, which drew around 5 lakh people from 11 to 13 March. Initially, the full amount was to be paid to the DDA before the event, but the NGT later ruled that the Art of Living Foundation had three weeks to pay the fine.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, head of the foundation, said Rs 5 crore will be paid as a “development fee,” not as a fine. His foundation has promised to clean the Yamuna floodplain and leave it more beautiful than before.
Environmentalists say the event, which cleared and leveled more than 1000 acres of land, is devastating for the fragile ecosystem on the banks of the Yamuna.
Representatives of Art of Living on the site in the week following the event said the 40-foot stage would take three to four weeks to dismantle. The Quint visited the site on Thursday to check on the clean-up progress. Almost three weeks have passed since the event and most of the stage is still standing.
Sri Sri was expected to return to the site to keep an eye on the dismantling of the stage and clean-up process, but The Quint has been unable to confirm whether he has returned since 15 March.
The National Green Tribunal will hold hearings from 4 April to determine the extent of the damage caused by the World Culture Festival. The tribunal is expected to ask for further payments from the Art of Living Foundation.
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