The National Green Tribunal responded to Ludhiana residents' petition alleging municipal encroachment on green belts, ordering removal of constructions in Model Town Extension and Sarabha Nagar. The MC must comply under district magistrate supervision and submit reports within two months. A joint committee confirmed partial encroachments but no forest land encroachment. The NGT directed removal of identified encroachments, imposed environmental compensation, and emphasised adherence to city master plan provisions. The MC, awaiting the commissioner's return, plans further actions based on NGT directives amid scrutiny of green belt use and ongoing encroachments.
The National Green Tribunal responded to a petition from Ludhiana residents alleging municipal construction on a green belt. It ordered the removal of the constructions and instructed the Municipal Corporation (MC) to operate under supervision from the district magistrate and Punjab State Pollution Control Board. The MC commissioner must submit a compliance report to the Tribunal's registrar general within two months, who will present the issue to the Tribunal if needed.
Kapil Arora, the complainant, accused the Municipal Corporation (MC) of encroaching on green belts in Model Town Extension and Sarabha Nagar, where the MC's zonal office is situated. He alleged that the MC used the green area to build office buildings and noted private encroachments in the Model Town Extension green belts as well.
In a previous statement last August, the Municipal Corporation (MC) mentioned constructing its Zone D office building in Sarabha Nagar by the Sidhwan Canal in 2000. It clarified that no scrap yard or storage facility was built on the green belt and that the MC had converted barren land behind Zone D into a green belt under the Smart City Mission. Additionally, the MC stated it had renovated Leisure Valley, a 7.25-acre area, under the same mission, planting 7,300 plants and 475 trees, and allocating 4.77% of the land for parking. The MC also attributed other encroachments in Model Town Extension to the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT).
The NGT established a joint committee to verify the claims of the municipal body, which submitted a report on May 30 after inspecting the sites with the complainant. According to the committee's report, no forest land was encroached upon, but some parts of the green areas in Leisure Valley and Model Town Extension were encroached upon to some extent. The committee found that the MC's Zone D office in Sarabha Nagar was not encroaching on the green belt. However, they identified several encroachments including a birth and death certificate registration office, scrap yard, office of the junior engineer, a Lord Shiva statue in Leisure Valley near Model Town Extension, and four commercial establishments in the green belt of Model Town Extension.
The committee recommended that the MC and Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) be directed to remove encroachments and form a joint committee to enforce the city's master plan provisions. The NGT granted additional time for the MC and Ludhiana Smart City Limited to respond. In their reply, the MC claimed that the joint committee found no encroachments on the Leisure Valley green belt and argued that since the area was designated in the Master Plan, no action was necessary.
The MC stated that facilities like the birth and death registration office, scrap yard, and junior engineer's office serve public interests. They explained that the Lord Shiva statue near Model Town Extension was installed before the master plan was finalised. Additionally, the MC informed the NGT that four establishments in Model Town Extension had been sealed, as noted in the joint committee's report.
The NGT referred to recent rulings in the Rakh Bagh case, emphasising the removal of all encroachments. It directed the Punjab Pollution Control Board to impose environmental compensation on the park management firm for environmental damage.
MC superintending engineer Sanjay Kanwar mentioned that he had received the NGT orders, noting that the MC commissioner was on leave. He added that they would await the commissioner's return to discuss and decide on further actions.
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