Cultural Festival

Sri Sri's foundation yet to pay NGT fine for Yamuna event

sri-sri-fina-default Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar | Reuters
  • The three-day event—which celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Art of Living Foundation—was billed as a global event, bringing together 37,000 artists and 30 lakh people from all over the world.

A month after the controversial World Cultural Festival on Yamuna floodplains in New Delhi, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation (AOL) is yet to pay a fine imposed on it for damaging the ecosystem.

The three-day event—which celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Art of Living Foundation—was billed as a global event, bringing together 37,000 artists and 30 lakh people from all over the world.

Hosted after erecting a seven-acre stage, hundreds of portable toilets and several dirt tracks over 1,000 acres on the sensitive banks of Yamuna, the event came under scrutiny after a Delhi-based environmentalist moved the National Green Tribunal, detailing the potential ecological damage it may cause to the floodplain.

The event organisers, whereas, denied the allegations and informed the court that it had obtained all the required permissions to conduct it on the floodplains.

After weighing in both sides of the argument, the NGT allowed the AOL Foundation to organise the event but only after slapping a fine of Rs 5 crore as interim “environmental compensation”.

The court also fined the Delhi Development Authority and Delhi Pollution Control Committee for permitting the event to take place despite its clear directions last year, forbidding construction on the floodplain.

Although the NGT specifically directed the foundation to pay the fine before the event commenced on March 11, it later accepted a plea by the organisers, seeking more time. Finally, the AOL foundation paid Rs 25 lakh, promised to pay the rest in one month and went ahead with the event.

However, the organisers have so far not paid the remainder of the fine, drawing sharp reactions from disheartened environmentalists.

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