Aastha Thakur
Published on: 22 November 2022 at 11:25 IST
After the National Green Tribunal (NGT) established a joint committee to examine the factual situation and submit a report regarding alleged encroachments of green belts in various places, a meeting was held with the committee members with various stakeholders was convened at the MC’s Zone D office. The meeting was presided by MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal.
The reason was to discuss the plea filed by the Council of Engineers led by its president Kapil Arora against alleged encroachments in green belts outside Lodhi Club and Sacred Heart School at BRS Nagar. The club and the school were cited by the authorities for parking automobiles in the green belt region.
The officials of the MC, the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT),the Forest Department and representatives of Lodhi Club and Sacred Heart School participated in the meeting. The LIT official explained that the impugned area is actually a300 feet wide road, however the LIT plan does not show any green belt mark there.
The peititoner asserts that the area outside the club and the school on Lodhi Club Road at BRS Nagar are green belts, as per the Master Plan of the city. He said the Master Plan depicted green belts from Jagraon Bridge to Sherpur Chowk on Old GT Road too.
Now, representatives from the departments concerned would determine if the aforementioned regions were in fact green belts.
Notably, after Council of Engineers president Kapil Arora filed a petition against alleged encroachments, the NGT earlier established a Joint Committee comprised of the Regional Officer, MoEF & CC, Chandigarh, Commissioner of Municipal Corporation Ludhiana, State PCB, and the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana.
The committee was given instructions to convene within two weeks, visit the site, investigate the applicant’s complaints, link the applicant and a representative of the project proponent in question, confirm the position’s veracity, and deliver its findings to the NGT within 15 days.