Taking serious note of alleged dumping of muck/excavated material by three private construction companies in Mandakini and Alaknanada rivers in Rudraprayag and Pauri districts, the Uttarakhand high court has asked the state government to submit a reply till July 27 this year.

A public interest litigation was filed by a Rudraprayag-based NGO on July 20 alleging that these firms, working on various hydropower projects in the area, have dumped millions of tonnes of muck/excavated material between 2008 and 2015 in violation of various environment conservation laws.

"These companies did not take due sanction from the Ministry of Environment and Forest or State Pollution Control Board. Instead, they look licence from the district magistrate concerned for sites to dispose of muck/excavated material and continued the blatant violation of the implementation agreements between 2012 and 2015," said Kartikey Hari Gupta, advocate of the petitioner, Himadri Jan Kalyan Sansthan,..............Read more

Source web page: Times of India