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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given Art of Living (AOL) time till tomorrow to pay the Rs 5 crore fine. It said, “If there is any breach, the law will takes its course”.
The NGT has also asked Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to issue a proper direction to AOL with regard to disposal of municipal waste.
The green court has also given time till tomorrow for Art of Living to get fire and police permissions.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly confirmed that he will be attending Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s World Culture Festival.
On 9 March, The National Green Tribunal granted the Art of Living Foundation permission to hold the World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplains but directed them to pay a fine of Rs 5 crore.The verdict also directed the AOL to develop the entire area as a biodiversity zone.
It’s now evident that the foundation had not received permission from numerous key authorities. Lawyers failed to answer questions raised by the tribunal bench, such as, where people attending the event would get their water from, or whether permissions had been granted for the event.
Lack of “structural stability” is one of the five major “shortcomings” detected by the Delhi Police in the infrastructure being readied for the three-day WCF.
The police report, submitted to the home and urban development ministries, has raised serious concerns about the law and order situation during the event, as a result of these defects.
Aggrieved farmers staged a protest under the leadership of the Bharatiya Kisan Union and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Wednesday 9 March, against the alleged forced takeover of their land in the Yamuna floodplains for the WCF.
The foundation has said it will challenge National Green Tribunal’s order. The organisation’s chief Sri Sri Ravi Shankar urged political parties not to “politicise” the event.
It now appears that on 16 February, Delhi’s water minister Kapil Mishra had written a letter to Union defence minister Manohar Parrikar, requesting the army to build an additional pontoon bridge, which he said was “imperative” for safer movement of people while crossing the Yamuna to attend the WCF.
The Defence Ministry is working on a new policy for using Army for civilian causes, a move that comes amid raging controversy over the force building a pontoon bridge over the Yamuna for the upcoming WCF.
The defence secretary has been asked by Manohar Parrikar to look into the matter so that a controversy is avoided the next time.
NDTV has accessed details which show that in December, the Ministry of Culture, headed by Mahesh Sharma, sanctioned Rs 2.25 crore for the three-day event.
The observation was made during the hearing of a PIL on the issue of unauthorised constructions on the flood plain of Yamuna in the Jaitpur and Mithapur areas of the national capital.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning that the weather could play spoilsport at the largely open-air mega-fest.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday that controversies over spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living (AOL) event should end, now that the NGT has given its verdict.
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