User:Vikrant tongad

introduction

Vikrant Tongad is a self trained environment activist. He started conservation of water and environment in the year 2010 because the water table of Noida and Greater Noida (UP) was depleting at a great speed. Seeing water wastage in the vicinity he formed team to bring awareness among villagers and took out first water rally on Date 09.05.2010 in his own village and nearby villages which created a lot of awareness among villagers about water conservation. The villagers then realized the amount of water they waste in one year is equal to the amount of water a builder wastes in one day in Greater Noida. The builders in Noida and Greater Noida pump out ground water to build basement, which they throw in drains₁. This practice was leading to depletion of ground water at a fast rate. Vikrant Tongad approached many government departments to stop wastage of ground water but none of them helped him. He then approached National Green Tribunal (NGT) for stopping the wastage and depletion of groundwater₂. NGT took the matter seriously and passed an order that no builder should use groundwater and at the same time carry out dewatering. This was a historical judgment which helped in conservation of water at a large scale. Currently due to this judgment, approximately around 500 builders are using water coming from sewage treatment plant instead of groundwater which is helping in stopping in wastage of thousands of liters of groundwater.

Along with this, awareness programmers for stopping wastage of groundwater are also being carried out. This awareness programmes has been named “Jal Chopal”₃. Until now more than 50 such Jal Chopals have been conducted in villages, schools and colleges.

A lot of work has also been done for preservation of Rainwater harvesting (RWH). Vikrant also filed a petition in NGT for starting RWH in all Metro stations₄. After this Delhi Metro has installed RWH units in almost all of its Metro Stations. Additionally, NGT also fined five star hotels, hospitals, malls, RWA and others who have not started doing RWH in lakhs of rupees. This has resulted in strict implementation of RWH in Delhi. Also due to Vikrant Tongad’s efforts Noida Metro Rail Corporation has decided to build 576 RWH units at Noida-Greater Noida Metro Projects. Also, Vikrant tongad is trying to bring Metro project within the projects which require prior Environment Clearance. After much struggle the Noida Metro Project has been asked to take Environment Clearance₅. This makes the Noida-Gr. Noida Metro Project as the country's first green metro project.

Due to his petition at NGT, construction around Dadri and Surajpur wetland has been prohibited₆. Already in the name of construction, there was a lot of harm caused to the wetlands. Other than this, there is a lot of work being carried out by Vikrant for the conservation of Ganga, Yamuna and Hindan rivers. A lot of work is also being carried out in the district for conservation of ponds and Hasanpur lake. After efforts of Vikrant around 30 illegal packaged water plant were close in Noida, Gr. Noida in 2013. They were using groundwater without any permission₇. And Vikrant is striving to become Uttar Pradesh Groundwater Conservation, Protection and Development Bill in UP. He has written to District Magistrate (Noida) in this regard very recently and DM sent that latter to State Government for action.

Activities

Rivers: Vikrant is mainly working to stop pollution of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Hindan. Also, he is working to revive the extinct river called as Hiryanvati in Kushinagar (UP). After seeing his work the district authority has made him member of “Hindan Bachao Samiti” at district level. Vikrant Tongad is also member of many district level committees for the conservation of Hindan river through which works to purify the river are being carried. He has complained about crushers situated on the banks of Hindan river which are causing pollution in the Hindan river at the respective pollution control board in Noida/ Ghaziabad. He wrote letters to government bodies to stop encroachment on the banks of Yamuna and Hindan rivers. He filed a petition against Simbhavali Sugar Mill (Hapur,UP) in NGT in which the mill was found guilty of causing pollution and asked to pay fine of Rs 5 crores and an order to stop pollution has been passed₈. He also filed a petition for the Environmental Clearance (EC) for construction of bridge at Yamuna river in Delhi₉.

Wetlands: Since the year 2010, Vikrant has done a lot of work for the conservation of wetland which has yielded positive results. The maximum amount of work has been done for wetlands situated in Greater Noida named Surajpur, Dadri, Dhanori. The land of Dadri wetland was given to private firms which resulted in its encroachment. It is habitat to approximately 300 migrants’ birds and national birds. Vikrant and his group complaint against the matter at different levels due to which today construction within a periphery of 500 meters around the wetland is restricted. Due to this the wetland cannot be encroached₁₁..

Surajpur wetland has been destroyed to make eco-park. Its natural ecology was being destroyed to construct artificial park and which was causing harm to the wetland and forest around it. For this millions of trees were cut and some were even cut illegally. Vikrant complaint many a times about illegal cutting of trees to the Government and Forest Department₁₂. They filed the guilty for illegal cutting of trees. Additionally, in the petition filed by Vikrant, NGT has passed an order which restricts any construction on wetland which has benefited the wetland profusely.

Dhanori wetland situated in Delhi-NCR is the biggest habitat of Sarus where more than 100 birds can be seen together at a time. But this wetland was shrinking and was being neglected by Development Authority which was planning to construct a road from it’s between. Vikrant appealed to the government that this wetland should be preserved and notified after which some environmentalist took this matter to NGT. After this development authority and Forest Department made a policy to conserve it. Due to this wetland, the water table in the adjacent area will also be maintained₁₃. Work for conservation of other wetland is also in progress.

Hasanpur wetland/lake which is situated at Hapur district (UP) spread across more than 300 acres is constantly getting polluted as the place around it is being allotted to small industries and builders. This all is posing a danger to the existence of the lake. A road has also been constructed over the lake. This lake is the biggest lake in Delhi-NCR but no policy has been designed for its conservation. Vikrant Tongad has constructed a survey at this area, has collected information using Right to Information (RTI), and has written letters to government which has brought some improvement in the situation of conservation of the lake (15).

Metro projects must come under Environmental clearance: The metro projects are increasing day by day in India, such upcoming projects in various Indian cities are required for better, safer, and more convenient mode of transportation for the citizens. Let’s not forget that the mero is also eco-friendly and reduces the road traffic. But we found certain discrepancies during the construction of the metro projects, like tree cutting, park/green belt damage to name a few. Post construction, we found that the residents of neighbouring areas in localities where the metro was passing, were complaining of noise pollution, only to realise after some investigation that the sound barriers were installed in select/posh localities only.

More investigations revealed that the Rain Water Harvesting Systems (RWHS) which are placed along the metro tracks and in the metro stations were not maintained properly and most of them were not working. It was also observed that the construction of metro underground track led to the severe depletion of the ground water as the extraction rate was very high, thereby affecting the nearby areas. Keeping in mind all these environmental issues SAFE took many different steps i.e. we went to the various authorities including the NGT for the correct implementation of the Rain Water Harvesting Systems (RWHS) and to stop problems such as these from aggravating. It was our belief that instead of raising different environmental issues separately, the Metro Rail could, for future projects take a prior Environmental Clearance before starting any project which would help in mitigating the environmental damages caused by the construction of such metro projects. The Government has exempted the metro projects from taking any sort of prior Environmental Clearance, but in places like Kochi and Mumbai concerns have been raised regarding the metro projects not obtaining a prior Environmental Clearance. Keeping the same concern in mind Vikrant went to the NGT seeking directions to the Noida – Greater Noida metro project to obtain a prior Environmental Clearance. Honourable NGT heard the entire grievance and on 31st May, 2016 ordered the Noida – Greater Noida metro project to obtain a prior Environmental Clearance. It was made clear after this judgement that metro projects should not have any exemptions in the case of obtaining an Environmental Clearance for their projects. After being saddled with the obligation of having to obtain a prior Environmental Clearance, it is ensured the Environmental Agency concerned, issues some parameters for metro projects for a more environmental friendly, sustainable development and their timely compliance is also assured.

Pursuant to the Hon,ble NGTs order in May 2016, for the first time a metro project, in this case headed by Noida Metro Rail Corporation, applied for an Environmental Clearance. The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIA) issued Terms of Reference (TOR) with regard to the application of the Environmental Clearance (EC) by the Noida Metro Rail Corporation(NMRC). SEIA’s conditions and TOR’s acceptance have made this metro project one of the greenest metro projects in India and it was because of these conditions and references certain things like sound barriers, more than 17,000 tree plantations, solar based metro projects, more than 500 rain water harvesting systems along the metro railway tracks etc. have been implemented/are being implemented. However, this EC is still pending and on 16th September, 2016 the Hon’ble Supreme Court has stayed the operation of the order dated 31st May, 2016 passed by the Hon’ble NGT in Vikrant Tongad vs Noida Metro Rail Corporation and Others by which it had ordered the NMRC to obtain a prior Environmental Clearance.

The State-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has issued terms of reference to the Noida Metro Rail Corporation for an inspection in September, which is necessary for the project to get environmental clearance. The National Green Tribunal has given NMRC three months to procure the clearance for its 28.8km Noida-Greater Noida Metro line, which is likely to start operations in 2017. Social Action for Forests and Environment (SAFE), an NGO, had moved the green court to make NMRC comply with environment norms. Among the most important provisions that the SEIAA has listed are sound barriers all along the line, especially near schools and hospitals, to prevent noise pollution and 576 rainwater harvesting pits. It also wants NMRC to plant 17,485 trees to compensate for the vegetation loss because of construction of the Metro line (5).

Reference: 1.	http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/realty-boom-bane-of-noida-water-table/story-ygjBlqiOcVZXw6oo3xhU5M.html 2.	http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/Noida-builders-cant-use-gro1undwater/articleshow/17990760.cms 3.	http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/noida-greater-noida-villages-to-join-water-conservation-effort/article8888998.ece 4.	http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/green-tribunal-notice-to-delhi-metro-rail-on-rainwater-harvesting--40845 5.	http://www.financialexpress.com/economy/ngt-asks-nmrc-to-get-ec-for-noida-greater-noida-metro-line/271514/ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/Solar-power-to-make-Noida-Metro-Indias-  greenest/articleshow/54802523.cms 6.	http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/ngt-restrains-construction-in-and-around-dadri-wetlands-113082100907_1.html http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/No-construction-inside-Surajpur-wetlands-orders-NGT/articleshow/52569499.cms 7.	http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/green-tribunal-orders-closure-of-34-illegal-packaged-drinking-water-units-in-noida-greater-noida-40530 8.	http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/ngt-slaps-rs-5-cr-fine-on-sugar-mills/article6509022.ece 9.	http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/delhis-signature-bridge-needs-environmental-clearance-48609 10.	http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Tribunal-lens-on-underground-parking-projects/articleshow/38500680.cms 11.	http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/ngt-restrains-construction-in-and-around-dadri-wetlands-113082100907_1.html 12.	http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/last-few-surviving-wetlands-of-ncr-is-under-threat/1/595434.html 13.	http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/Need-to-conserve-shrinking-wetlands/articleshow/50801318.cms 14.	http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/city-s-water-bodies-in-ruins-du-to-admin-apathy/story-ATR3y4ZXv2BsEfpUFtzNML.html 15. http://www.hindustantimes.com/noida/delhi-ncr-s-largest-wetland-faces-threat-centre-seeks-report/story-0Na5ydMsGfgxQAbjIl3ZII.html