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The National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, has ordered the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and the state's Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department to recover environmental compensation within three months from the private operators of two luxury tent cities set up on the riverbed of the Ganga in Varanasi.
The Tribunal held that the Tent City were established and operated in clear violation of environmental norms and the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016, including the prohibition on construction in the riverbed and floodplain without prior approval. In its detailed order dated January 8, 2026, the Bench headed by Justice Prakash Shrivastava (Chairperson) and Dr. A. Senthil Vel (Expert Member) accepted the findings of a seven-member Joint Committee, which concluded that both projects operated without Consent to Operate (CTO) from the UPPCB, despite conditional Consents to Establish being granted. The Committee found that the tent cities were set up directly on the riverbed, involved floating jetties and boating activities, and relied on improper sewage management, including brick-lined sewage chambers without impervious lining that functioned like soak pits, posing a risk of seepage into the river system. The projects were also found to be within the High Flood Level (HFL) zone of the Ganga. The Tribunal noted that the Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) had issued tenders and entered into five-year agreements with the private entities but failed to obtain mandatory prior approval from the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as required under Clause 42 of the 2016 Order. The Bench further held that the setting up of the tent cities violated earlier directions of the Tribunal in the Manoj Misra case concerning the protection of river floodplains. On liability, the Tribunal recorded that the tent cities operated from January 15, 2023, to May 31, 2023, after which they were dismantled before the monsoon. For this violation period, the UPPCB imposed environmental compensation of 17,12,500 each on the two project proponents, calculated at 12,500 per day in line with CPCB guidelines for operating without CTO. While the levy was upheld as legally valid, the Tribunal expressed concern that no recovery had been made so far, despite repeated communications to district authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, where the company directors are based. Accordingly, the Tribunal directed expeditious recovery within three months. On the contentious issue of the de-notification of the Kachhua (Turtle) Wildlife Sanctuary, the Tribunal declined to adjudicate, noting that the matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court and any determination by the NGT could result in overlapping jurisdiction. Concluding the matter, the Tribunal disposed of the application with a clear caution that no tent city or similar commercial activity should be permitted in future on the banks, riverbed, or floodplains of the Ganga or its tributaries in violation of statutory protections, reinforcing the river's status as a construction-free zone except in strictly regulated circumstances. (ANI)
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