A committee of experts, appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to assess the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplain in Delhi where the World Culture Festival of The Art of Living was held last March, has found that the “entire floodplain area used for the main event site” has been “completely destroyed” causing “invisible loss of biodiversity” that may never be able to return”. In its report, submitted to the NGT on July 28, the seven-member panel, headed by Shashi Shekhar, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, said “the entire floodplain area used for the main event site, i.e. between the DND flyover and Barapullah drain (on the right bank of river Yamuna) has been completely destroyed, not simply destroyed. The ground is now totally levelled, compacted and hardened, totally devoid of water bodies or depressions, and almost completely devoid of any vegetation (except a few large cattails at the base of of the DND flyover)”. According to the reports the floodplains have “almost all its natural vegetation” like trees, shrubs, tall grasses and aquatic vegetation including water hyacinth crucial to the survival of a large number of animals and organisms. The reports further says, “These organisms were rendered homeless, driven away by intense activity and many were consigned to graves under the debris. This is invisible loss of biodiversity which cannot be easily assessed and most may never be able to return,” it says. The video is available at: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4p1wky
2016 The Indian Express [P] Ltd.