India: Okhla Dredging Raises Environmental Concerns

The recent dredging exercise at the Okhla barrage to deepen the Okhla pond was welcomed by environmentalists till they figured out that all the silt pulled out was being dumped along the banks and allowed to flow downstream with the river, says timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

The first plan was to leave the silt along the banks since transporting it would have increased the cost of the project.

“The project cost, which is about Rs 12 crore right now, would have gone up to about Rs 17 crore if it was decided to move the silt. Also, it would have been impractical as there is a lot of traffic on the Noida road from where the trucks would have moved. A technical committee comprising chief engineers took this call based on financial and technical aspects,” says Uttar Pradesh irrigation department official.

The argument failed to convince environmentalists.

The environmentalists raise now the question of the environment impact assessment of such activities.

[mappress]

Dredging Today Staff, June 28, 2012