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More than a year since the controversial World Culture Festival organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation, the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) committee has once again blamed the event for destruction of the Yamuna floodplains.
The committee, however, has vastly reduced the costs of repair and restoration.
The seven-member committee, led by Shashi Shekhar, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, has now estimated that the rehabilitation of the floodplains, which include vast swathes of wetlands, would cost over ₹42 crore. Restoration of the floodplains will likely take more than a decade, the committee has said in its latest report.
The committee in its report in March last year had recommended a penalty of ₹120 crore.
The vast damage done to the floodplains include compaction of earth, besides loss of natural vegetation, including trees and shrubs, aquatic vegetation, blockage and silting of wetlands, among others.
As part of the three-day festival on March 11-13, 2016, the Foundation had created a massive seven-acre stage, besides clearing and levelling over 1,000 acres for attendees.
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