The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Haryana authorities to remove encroachments from the Jharsa pond in Sector 47 and restore the water body, after a survey found a temple, a masonry structure, seven jhuggis and even a road and footpath built over parts of the land recorded as a natural water body.
The NGT Principal Bench comprising Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, judicial member, and Dr A Senthil Vel, expert member, directed the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), Haryana Water Resources (Conservation, Regulation and Management) Authority, and District Magistrate (Haryana) to remove the encroachments in accordance with law and restore and rejuvenate the pond as per Supreme Court and NGT directions and Central Pollution Control Board guidelines. The tribunal, in an order pronounced on August 24, said the identified encroachments were raised after a May 25, 2015 status quo order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and were therefore not protected by it.
