Representational.
New Delhi: Following claims that there are poor sanitation arrangements at Maha Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, causing open defecation, the National Green Tribunal issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government, Prayagraj Mela Authority and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board. The notice said that lakhs of ordinary people and families are forced to defecate in the open on the banks of river Ganga Bar and Bench reported.
An NGT bench led by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member Dr A Senthil Vel had directed the authorities on February 14 to respond a week before the next hearing, which is scheduled for Monday.
A petitioner, Nipun Bhushan, filed an application seeking Rs 10 crore in environmental compensation from the Uttar Pradesh government, claiming that the state had failed to prevent pollution due to inadequate sanitation at the Kumbh Mela site. He also enclosed a pen drive containing videos from Mela to substantiate his claims. He had based his argument on the ‘polluter pays” principle, arguing that the polluter must bear the cost of environmental damage.
Further, the petitioner accused the state of neglecting its duty under Article 48A of the Constitution, which mandates the government to protect and improve the environment. Allowing open defecation at the Kumbh Mela, the state has violated its constitutional obligation, the petitioner contented.
According to his application, despite providing assurances of environmentally friendly toilets, thousands of pilgrims were forced to defecate in the open due to a lack of clean or functional sanitary facilities. The videos provided by the petitioner showed human waste piling up along riverbanks.
Amid concerns and clamour on the poor condition of Ganga water at the Maha Kumbh, which contains faecal bacteria as well as deadly levels of BOD (biological oxygen demand), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had claimed that the water is not only clean but also fit for bathing and ritual drinking (aachman). He claimed that the Uttar Pradesh Control Board and the Central Pollution Control Board are continuously monitoring the water quality at the Sangam. This is despite the government's own data that there was the presence of harmful pollutants in various ghats of Prayagraj.