National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders restoration of Suav as a river in Uttar Pradesh official records

Key facts

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Uttar Pradesh government to reclassify the Suav from a drain to a river in revenue records and the Official Gazette.
• The Suav is a significant tributary of the Rapti river, which is a tributary of the Ganges, and flows for approximately 120 kilometres through Balrampur district.
• The NGT bench, led by Chairman Justice Prakash Srivastava, ordered the Balrampur district magistrate to rectify the classification within three months.
• The tribunal prohibited new construction in demarcated Flood Plain Zones until the identification and demarcation of the Active Flood Zone is completed.
• The District Ganga Committees (DGC) of Balrampur and Siddharthnagar were instructed to adopt the Sant Seechewal model to ensure people's participation in river rejuvenation.
• The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) is mandated to monitor water quality and industrial effluents from entities such as Balrampur Sugar Mill and Bajaj Sugar Mill.
• The Irrigation and Water Resources Department must identify active floodplains within six months based on guidelines from the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) will review proposals related to Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) and Suav river restoration submitted by the state government.
• Failure to comply with the directives constitutes an offence under Section 26 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.