1 week ago
NGT Dismisses Plea Against Vasai School Over Environmental Allegations
An environmentalist complained that a school in Vasai was built illegally and was harming a nearby watercourse.
He also said sewage from the school was polluting the area.
The school denied all of these claims.
The National Green Tribunal asked a Joint Committee to inspect the site.
The committee found no illegal construction or encroachment by the school.
It also did not find sewage being discharged into the watercourse.
The committee noted that the school had commencement certificates and two septic tanks.
The tribunal accepted the committee’s findings and dismissed the case, although a forest-related question about an approach road still required examination.
The National Green Tribunal dismissed an environmental application against Gnyanodaya Multipurpose High School and Jr. College in Vasai.
The plea alleged illegal construction, river-course encroachment, sewage discharge and construction near protected forest land.
A Joint Committee found no school encroachment or illegal construction and reported no sewage discharge into the watercourse.
The school said it had commencement certificates and two septic tanks, and denied causing pollution or obstructing the watercourse.
The applicant challenged the findings, citing the absence of a sewage treatment plant, groundwater extraction and forest-law concerns.
- Who
- Environmental activist Rajiv Bhagelu Gupta brought the application against Gnyanodaya Multipurpose High School and Jr. College; the National Green Tribunal decided the matter.
- What
- The NGT dismissed allegations of illegal construction, river-course encroachment and untreated sewage discharge by the school.
- Where
- The school is in Vasai, Palghar, Maharashtra, near a watercourse originating from the Tungareshwar hills.
- When
- The order was reported on August 22, 2026.
- Why
- The tribunal found no force in the application after a Joint Committee reported no encroachment, illegal construction or sewage discharge.
Applicant’s Environmental Concerns
School’s Defense and Tribunal Findings
Construction and river encroachment
Applicant’s Environmental Concerns
The applicant alleged that the buildings were near a natural river course without the required nine-metre buffer, and that sand, construction waste and a compound wall affected the watercourse.
School’s Defense and Tribunal Findings
The school denied obstruction and illegal construction. The Joint Committee and tribunal found no encroachment or illegal construction at the site.
Sewage management
Applicant’s Environmental Concerns
The applicant argued that the school lacked a sewage treatment plant and that its two septic tanks were inadequate for an institution serving about 4,500 students.
School’s Defense and Tribunal Findings
The school denied polluting the watercourse, and the Joint Committee found no sewage discharge into the nalla or water body.
Forest-land and further inquiry
Applicant’s Environmental Concerns
The applicant alleged that the approach road crossed protected forest land and cited groundwater extraction as reasons for deeper environmental scrutiny.
School’s Defense and Tribunal Findings
The school said its buildings were on non-forest land and that one survey parcel had been denotified as forest land in 1942. The Forest Department said the old building’s approach road still required further examination.
Key facts
- Tribunal
- National Green Tribunal
- Applicant
- Rajiv Bhagelu Gupta
- Respondent
- Gnyanodaya Multipurpose High School and Jr. College
- Main allegations
- Illegal construction, river-course encroachment and untreated sewage discharge
- Committee findings
- No encroachment, illegal construction or sewage discharge was found
- School infrastructure
- The committee recorded commencement certificates and two septic tanks
- Outstanding issue
- The Forest Department said the approach road to the old building required further examination for forest-law compliance
Quotes
National Green Tribunal
The environmental tribunal hearing and deciding the application
“In view of the report submitted by the Joint Committee we do not find any force in the application and we dismiss it”
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Sources
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