No permission for Art of Living event: Water Resources Ministry to NGT

New Delhi Faced with tough questions from National Green Tribunal NGT the Water Resources ministry on Wednesday told the panel it has not granted permission for World Cultural Festival being organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankars Art of Living foundation from March 11 while another ministry said no clearance was required for temporary structuresResponding to questions from the green panel the Water Resources ministry distanced itself from the controversy saying it has not given any clearance for the threeday eventThe Ministry of Environment and Forests whereas told the the NGT bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar that no environment clearance was required for setting up temporary structures on Yamuna flood plainsThe ministrys submission came after the tribunal which was hearing pleas seeking cancellation of the festival on the flood plains of Yamunariver had pulled it up for not filing an affidavit regarding environmental clearancesDuring the hearing the green panel asked the counsel appearing for Art of Living AOL to take instructions not to put enzymes into river Yamuna without Delhi Pollution Control Committees permission to which the foundation later agreedThe tribunal also asked the Centre Delhi govt DDA if any environment impact assessment was carried out regarding preparation and consequential effects of the festival The tribunal was informed by the Delhi government that the police after inspecting the site had asked the foundation to show if they have structural safety clearance of pontoon bridge and vehicle parking clearanceDelhi govt also told the bench that CPWD has asked the foundation to build a separate stage for the Prime Minister due to issues over structural safety a claim denied by the AOL which said it was being built for better view of the eventThe counsel appearing for Ministry of Water Resources told the bench We have not granted any permission regarding the event and no application is pending with us on the same The foundation however informed the bench that all necessary steps for safety of the people have been taken saying any untoward incident at the venue will be detrimental to countrys imageGiving the details of the expenditure incurred on the event the AOL foundation informed the green panel that a total of Rs 2563 crore has been spent on the entire preparationThe TRIBUNAL had questioned yesterday the building up of pontoon bridge by the Army on river Yamuna for the festival and asked the Delhi Development Authority DDA counsel as to who gave the permission for setting it upDDA Delhi government MoEF said that they have no relation with the grant of permission for setting up the pontoon bridge as all the three said that they are concerned only with different issuesDDA had also informed the NGT that it granted permission for 2444 hectare for holding of the event in which 35 lakh to 5 lakh people are likely to participate and has till now not found any violations of its conditions by organizers of the eventThe tribunal had asked all the parties to consider the impact of such an event on the environment river ecology and biodiversityCounsel for AOL had said that it has no instructions about the study of environment impact assessment but it has satisfied the DDA for permission by fulfilling the condition that no permanent structures will be constructed on flood plainsAOL said that no concretization has been done no permanent structure has been built and only wood clothes and bamboo is being used at the siteThe NGT which was also hearing a plea against AOLs plan to release enzymes into 17 drains joining Yamuna for cleaning the river had constituted an expert committee headed by Water Resources Secretary to inspect the site of the proposed festivalThe AOL foundation which is organising the function will have yoga and meditation sessions peace prayers by Sanskrit scholars and traditional cultural performances from India and abroadEnvironmental activist Anand Arya who filed the petition to stop the event rued that over 1000acres of the sensitive area between Delhi and Noida predominantly marshland stand shorn of even a single blade of grassAnother petitioner Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan questioned the legality of the event and said the area being destroyed every moment will take a long time to recover and slammed the organisers for the lack of understanding on their part