NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has pulled up the authorities concerned over the continued operation of illegal dairy farms on the Yamuna floodplains, observing that its earlier directions have not been fully implemented.
A Bench comprising NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Afroz Ahmad directed the MCD and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to file fresh action taken reports after finding continued violations despite clear directions issued earlier.
The order was passed on July 15 while hearing a petition alleging that authorities had failed to implement the Tribunal’s April 2024 directions for the removal of illegal dairy farms from the Yamuna floodplain, including those in Chak Chilla village near Mayur Nature Park.
The Tribunal examined a status report submitted by the DPCC following inspections in the protected O-Zone, where no construction is permitted. During inspections below the DND Flyover, the Namo Bharat RRTS corridor and near New Friends Colony, officials found scattered encroachments, temporary cattle sheds, fodder, heaps of cattle dung and 50–60 bovine animals grazing in open grasslands.
“The reply of the DPCC reveals that the order of the Tribunal has not been complied with,” the Bench observed.
During the hearing, the Delhi Development Authority submitted that demolition drives had been carried out repeatedly but encroachers resumed keeping cattle at the same locations or beneath the flyover. The DDA said the MCD and the Animal Husbandry Department were responsible for impounding the cattle, but no action had been taken despite the authorities being informed.