Noting that 16 States have submitted “incomplete action plans” pertaining to the cleaning of 351 polluted river stretches in the country, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has extended the deadline for submitting the action plans to January 31. The green panel, however, added that in case of non-compliance, hefty compensation will be levied on the States and the Union Territories. The directions came after the green panel took suo-motu cognisance of a report published by The Hindu, pertaining to an increased number of polluted river stretches across the country. With great regret, we may be left with no opinion but to take coercive action, if there is further failure,” the Bench added. “Any incomplete action plan will be treated as non-compliance.

Source: The Hindu December 21, 2018 17:15 UTC