The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has declared that Tent City, set up on the riverbed of River Ganga in Varanasi as a luxury tourism project, was founded and operated in violation of environmental laws. The principal bench of the tribunal issued the order on January 8 in the Tushar Goswami vs Union of India case.
“We find that the Tent City…was set up and operated in violation of the environmental norms and the provisions of the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016, for which the environmental compensation has been levied, but not recovered. Therefore, the same is required to be recovered expeditiously,” the NGT said in its order. The bench comprised NGT chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the project on January 13, 2023. “With the Tent City, tourists and devotees coming to Kashi now have an incredible means of accommodation,” Modi had said. Varanasi is the Prime Minister’s constituency.
No permission obtained
The NGT found that Tent City had been set up without the mandatory prior approval of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the project was operated without Consent to Operate (CTO) from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB).
The application to the tribunal alleged that two Tent City establishments were polluting the riverbed and the river water and was harming flora and fauna. The application also claimed that sewage from these projects was being discharged directly into the river.
The applicant added that Tent City was set up at the place of Kachhua Wildlife Sanctuary and this sanctuary was illegally de-notified in 2020.
“The respondents (government authorities) will ensure that in future violating the provisions of River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016 and the applicable environmental norms, no such Tent City is allowed to be set up on the bank of river Ganga or its tributaries,” stated the NGT order.
Fact-finding joint committee
The tribunal had sought a factual report from a seven-member joint committee on the alleged violations before passing the order and accepted its findings. The committee had also remarked on the construction of permanent structures on the riverbed to collect sewage.
The bench upheld the compensation of Rs 17,12,500 each that had been levied on the two project proponents for environmental violations between January 15, 2023, to May 31, 2023. Since the compensation had not been paid, the bench directed UPPCB and the department of environment, forest and climate change, Uttar Pradesh, to ensure the recovery of the compensation in three months.
The two Tent City projects were operational during this period. The UPPCB had imposed the environmental compensations on them, calculated at Rs 12,500 every day.
The tribunal said that it did not want to comment on the alleged illegal de-notification of the turtle sanctuary, since the matter was pending before the Supreme Court.
Tent City was a public-private project in which the Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) was a participant with the private partners. It was intended to increase tourist footfall to Varanasi, after the recent renovations in the old temple areas. A boat ride would take the tourists to the destination.