HYDERABAD: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) pulled up the State government for conducting desiltation works in 1,400 hectares along a 39 km stretch on Godavari river.
The NGT observed that it is not desiltation but destruction while hearing a petition on Wednesday by the NGO, Readiness for Empowerment through Legitimate Action (RELA), on the desiltation works taken up by the State government.
The desiltation works resulted in the excavation of four crore cubic meters of sand from Godavari river bed and were conducted in sand reaches falling under Medigadda and Annaram barrages. The NGT also pulled up the State government for not obtaining any environmental clearance for desiltation works. The joint report by the Central Pollution Control Board and Telangana State Pollution Control Board on the impact of desiltation works pointed out the lack of environmental impact assessment study before taking up the works.
Counsel for the petitioner, Sravan Kumar, asked what was the reason for desiltation from 2015, when the barrages were commissioned recently. The case was posted for September 26.