New Delhi: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living foundation has deposited Rs 4.75 crore as environmental compensation to the Delhi Development Authority for damaging Yamuna's sensitive flood plains. Ironically, the development came a day after Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti expressed her gratitude to the spiritual Guru for turning the place into a "much cleaner site".
“The Art of Living has deposited compensation amount of Rs 4.75 crore to DDA account through demand draft on June 3,” ANI tweeted on Monday.
Earlier, lawyers for the foundation requested to make the payment in the form of a bank guarantee as opposed to a direct payment, which was struck down by the National Green Tribunal’s Justice Swatanter Kumar during court proceedings on 31 March. Prior to the event, an initial Rs 25 lakh was paid, and the organisation agreed to pay the remaining Rs 4.75 crore a month after the event.
Notwithstanding NGT's rebuke, Bharti was all praise for AOL foundation, she even thanked Sr Sri for 'cleaning the dirtiest site in Delhi'.
"The Sri Sri event was discussed so much... I had seen this site in the past too, it was in a poor state, but now it has become much better than what it was. It is a result of Sri Sri organising the event here."
"This site has become cleaner, has turned into a levelled ground, trees here have not been cut, while stretch of bushes have been cleared, which required to be cleared," she told reporters during her visit to the site."
Lauding the spiritual guru, Ms Bharti said he has set "very big example before the country by cleaning dirtiest site in Delhi".
The tribunal had slammed AOL for not depositing the environment compensation imposed on it saying it was "wilful violation" of its undertakings.
It had held that corporate entity cannot be used to promote irregularities and said it would even lift the "corporate veil" and find "real substance" of the matter while examining the case to ascertain the truth.
It had earlier dismissed AOL's plea seeking its nod to accept the environment compensation, slapped for damaging Yamuna's biodiversity, as bank guarantee instead of "payment of balance amount" of Rs 4.75 crore.
The green panel on March 9 had refused to prohibit the three-day 'World Culture Festival', held by AOL between March 11 and 13, but asked it pay a compensation of Rs 5 crore for damaging biodiversity and aquatic life of Yamuna.
On March 11, AOL had moved a plea seeking four weeks time for depositing the amount after which the tribunal allowed the foundation to deposit Rs 25 lakh on that day and granted three weeks time period to pay the balance amount.
