10 hours Ago By Alim Shaikh
1 2 3 Pune: Environment activists have raised concerns over repeated violations of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and Supreme Court orders in Lonavla over dumping in the Indrayani river. Prakash Porwal, the state vice president of BJP's Udyog Aghadi (industrial unit of the party), was allegedly involved in the illegal dumping in the Indrayani river to make an approach road to his private property. Despite officials from the Lonavla Municipal Council (LMC) removing the encroachment twice in compliance with the NGT order in the last one-and-a-half years, activists claimed that Porwal refilled the encroachment again last year by blocking the water's natural flow.
You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune Suresh Pujari, one of the petitioners who approached the NGT in the matter in 2018, wrote a letter to the district collector on Tuesday stating that Porwal dumped illegal debris in the river again to construct an approach road to his property. LMC, in Nov 2023, removed the encroachment and illegal dumping following the NGT order. Porwal refilled the area again in June 2024, violating the court orders.
The same was removed by local authorities again after Pujari highlighted the issue in a letter to the district collector. In Nov 2024, however, the activist observed the illegal dumping again and highlighted the issue to the district collector. However, the authorities did not take any action in the matter.
Following this, Pujari wrote another letter to the district collector on Tuesday, demanding immediate action. It may be noted that earlier, the NGT imposed a fine on the Lonavla civic body afterit failed to comply with the court order of Dec 2020 and failed to remove the dumping and encroachment. Sources from the district administration revealed that the municipal council sought police protection to carry out an action, but it was denied by the local police on multiple occasions by giving different reasons between Nov and Dec 2024.
Ashok Sable, CEO of Lonavla Municipal Council, said the action was delayed as Porwal filed an appeal before the district collector in the matter. "The authorities decided to wait until the collector completed the hearing in the matter," he said. Porwal, while refuting the allegations, claimed that the officials of the land records department submitted wrong maps, and the joint committee, led by the Lonavla Municipal Council CEO, submitted wrong documents in court.
So, the court ruled against him. "I have already written to the district collector demanding an FIR against these officials, including the CEO of the Lonavla Municipal Council, in the matter. I followed the rules, but I am being targeted unnecessarily by some people for raising serious matters about corruption," he said.
The NGT order shows that Porwal's objections regarding the demarcation of land in the maps presented by the land records department were considered before delivering the final judgment on the matter. The district collector was not available for comment till the time of going to press..
