The Monitoring Committee for the Rejuvenation of the River Yamuna in Delhi and NCR has been set up by the National Green Tribunal through an order dated 26^th July 2018. The detailed order of the Tribunal is HERE.

Constitution of the Committee

The Members of the Monitoring Committee comprise Ms. Shailaja Chandra, former Chief Secretary, Delhi and Mr. B.S. Sajwan former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and former Expert Member of the NGT.

Terms of Appointment

The Committee has been appointed to function on a day to day basis as a full time team of commissioners to execute orders of the Tribunal under Section 25 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.

Mandate

The mandate of the Monitoring Committee as stipulated in the NGT order  is to oversee and ensure the requisite level and standard of water at the entry point and exit point of river Yamuna as well as in drains which meet river do not carry pollutants beyond the determined standards.In order to achieve this the Tribunal has directed the Committee:

• To take stock of all the actions taken so far in the light of the various directions of the Tribunal.
• Propose time bound action plan to deal with the problem. The Committee may suggest the framework for implementation. A comprehensive, integrated and inclusive strategy with clear measurable indicators of progress and success has been asked by the tribunal.

• The time lines prepared by the committee will be treated as revised time lines to substitute the time line earlier laid down by the Tribunal.

• The committee may requisition services of any technical experts.

• The action plan should also include creation of Biodiversity Parks created by the Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE) of University of Delhi, A Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment and Forest & Climate Change, Government of India and City Forests of Urban Forests belt of suitable species that are capable of capturing pollutants from environment on the entire Yamuna flood plains right from Wazirabad to Okhla in NCT of Delhi. For this Purpose the DDA, who is the owner of the land in Yamuna flood plains, shall make the entire flood plain available to the Forest department aafter demarcating the land on the ground. All such lands should be cleared of all the encroachments if any.

• After assessing the current status of Yamuna, the Committee may clearly indicate the reasons for delay in implementation of our orders issued from time to time.
• Ozonation and aeration in some of the drains may be experimented. It is to be ensured that the treated effluents should not be mixed with untreated effluents and the treated effluents are utilised for horticulture and other relevant purposes.

The Committee has to issue directions to deal with the problems of idol immersion in the river Yamuna taking CPCB guidelines into account.

The Committee has also to oversee the setting up of an online mechanism for monitoring the sewage treatment plants and have them connected to the servers of CPCB and DPCC for monitoring.

Direction on establishing a Website and involving Educational Institutions

• The Monitoring Committee has been directed to setup a website for receiving and giving information.
• The Committee has been asked to involve educational institutions for giving their expectations, build awareness and give feedback about the results.

Powers & Functions of the Monitoring Committee

• The Monitoring Committee will have powers to make such inspections as may be necessary including having the water quality inspected from time to time.
• The Committee can call for such help of security forces as may be necessary and require dedicated forces to be made available for removing the encroachment on the floodplains of river Yamuna.
• The Committee has to oversee that the existing STPs are made fully operational within the specified time and the terminal points of the drains are cleaned.
• The Monitoring Committee can approve any plan for collection of funds on the Principle of Polluter Pays apart from requisitioning funds from the concerned authorities in terms of the orders already passed by the Tribunal.

Co-ordination with the States of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

The States of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been directed through the same order to set up their own full time Monitoring Committees and have a joint meeting with the members of the Monitoring Committee.

The NGT has stipulated that all existing Committees have been directed to work in tandem with the Monitoring Committee.