Coming down heavily on the Delhi Government for permitting sand
mining on the Yamuna river bed and its surrounding areas in the name of
dredging, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday directed the authorities
concerned to immediately put an end to the illegal mining.Observing that 80 per
cent of the material dredged by contractors in Yamuna was sand and cannot be
termed as “de-silting activity”, the green panel constituted a committee
consisting of a senior officer from the Mining Department, concerned municipal
corporation, DPCC, MoEF and Delhi Jal Board. Dredging is the removal of
sediments and debris from the bottom of rivers and other waterbodies.