Art of Living ‘Completely Destroyed’ Floodplain, Experts Tell NGT

Committee observes that entire floodplain area used for the event was completely destroyed, and not simply damaged.

Artists rehearse on the eve of the three-day World Peace Festival being organised by Art of Living Foundation in New Delhi on Thursday. (Photo: PTI)

Preparations for the World Culture Festival, organised by the Art of Living Foundation on the banks of the Yamuna River, caused irreversible damage to the surrounding floodplain, according to a report submitted to the National Green Tribunal.

The report, released to the public on Wednesday, said damage to the riverbed will limit the zone’s ability to control floods, recharge the city’s groundwater stores and support a diverse range of animal and plant life.

Experts assessing the World Culture Festival venue were appointed by the tribunal.

The committee observes that entire floodplain area used for the main event site i.e. between DND flyover and the Barapulla drain (on the right bank of river Yamuna) has been completely destroyed, not simply damaged. The ground is now totally levelled, compacted and hardened and is totally devoid of water bodies or depressions and almost completely devoid of any vegetation. 

Committee of Experts

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Art of Living cleared vegetation and filled in water bodies with dirt and debris, the report added, siting satellite images of the area prior to construction.

The foundation was brought before the green tribunal after environmental activists submitted a petition that the World Culture Festival violated an NGT order banning construction on the Yamuna floodplain.

In a hearing last week, lawyers for Art of Living told the bench the event venue was not a flood plain, suggesting that they had not violated any order.

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Both Art of Living and the petitioners have until late September to develop responses to the expert committee reports. Art of Living is expected to argue that the committee was biased.

Committee members included Shashi Shekhar, Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources, and senior scientists and experts from National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, IIT, Delhi and other agencies.

In their 47-page report, experts said they had visited the area long before the World Culture Festival preparations began. They also included satellite imagery in their assessment.

Images show land was flattened and trees razed to the ground to make space for the forty foot stage, which hosted thousands of musicians. In the process, small animals, birds, insects and mud-dwelling organisms were evicted from their habitat, the report said.

These organisms were rendered homeless, driven away by intense activity and many were consigned to graves under the debris. This is invisible loss of biodiversity which cannot be easily assessed and most may never be able to return. Far more significant changes are expected in the micro-organisms which are critical to ecosystem functioning.

Roads, ramps and pontoon bridges destroyed the diversity of the land by the Yamuna, which included small bodies of water, grasslands, shrubbery and some seasonal agricultural land, the report added.

The next hearing will be held on 28 September.