After another hearing on the case against the Art of Living Foundation – the organisers of the World Culture Festival – the National Green Tribunal has agreed to give respondents in the case three weeks to address an expert committee report.
The bench said that the report (an analysis of the damage the event allegedly caused to the banks of the Yamuna River) will now be released. By late September, experts will also submit an estimation of the sum the foundation will have to pay.
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Experts visited the site months after the stage had come down, not long before the monsoon began.
True to its name, the floodplain is flooded. But petitioners say the inundation is unnatural given the little amount of rain Delhi NCR has received this year.
According to the petitioners, compacted soil is the cause – compaction that happened when the Art of Living Foundation cleared the floodplain, built a 50-foot stage and invited more than 3 lakh people. The soil in the area is supposed to absorb rain water, they say.
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But Art of Living is also contesting the nature of the area they occupied for several months at the beginning of the year.
In a new twist to the never-ending case against the World Culture Festival, the foundation filed an affidavit claiming the area is not actually a floodplain. According to the foundation, the zone has not been officially designated as a floodplain by a government body.
They have also contested the choice of experts on the committee assessing damage to the area, claiming that the members are biased.
Taking all facts into consideration, it is clear that the allegations of environmental damage are unscientific, biased and unsustainable. We will submit our objections to the Report in detail once we have had a chance to go through it.Art of Living Foundation
The tribunal will hear the case again on 28 September.
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