Delhi Metro in soup for polluting Yamuna river

The Delhi Metro has been issued a show-cause notice for dumping debris into the Yamuna, adding to pollution.

The Delhi Metro has been issued a show-cause notice for dumping debris into the Yamuna, adding to pollution.

HT Image

The notice, issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), states that Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has contributed to the encroachment on the riverbed. DMRC has already constructed a 190-km network under phases 1 and 2 and is currently working on phase 3.

Mangu Singh, DMRC chief, received the notice on Friday from the NGT, a judiciary body, which had taken note of a complaint by Manoj Misra, convenor of NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.

“DMRC has been dumping debris since 2007-08 when construction work on the Yamuna bank began. We have been raising concerns since then but to no avail. Finally, we approached the NGT with photographic evidences,” Misra told HT.

He also alleged that DMRC contractors dump unused reinforced cement concrete pillars on the river bank.

DMRC, however, denied the allegations. “We never dump debris on the Yamuna bank,” Singh said.

As part of ongoing phase 3 work, construction rubble is dumped at a predesignated site at Mukundpur, a DMRC official said.

Based on response to the NGT notice, DMRC could be fined if it was found to be violating the norms.