Sri Sri mega event’s stage not stable enough to host PM, CPWD tells NGT

09 March, New Delhi

The 40 feet-high stage erected on the Yamuna floodplains here for the World Culture Festival of Sri Sri Ravishankars Art of Living Foundation is not stable enough to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been invited for the event, according to the Central Public Works Department(CPWD).

The CPWD in its documents submitted today to the National Green Tribunal(NGT), which is hearing the matter, said the structure was unstable, and so a separate stage was needed to be built for the Prime Minister.

A petition has been filed before the court by the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan (Save Yamuna Campaign) for stopping the mega event on the ground that it was being organised flouting the environmental norms.When the Art of Living Foundation counsel told the court that the base of the 40-feet structure was mud, the court expressed shock, and said it must be sand not mud.

The judges were further angered when the counsel failed to give a satisfactory reply to the question as to whether the huge stage, which is spread over seven acres had been certified by any qualified engineer.

The Court also pulled up the Ministry of Environment and Forests for failing to submit the affidavit regarding the environmental impact assessment of the event, which the Ministry had promised yesterday to furnish before the court.Meanwhile, the Water Resources Ministry told the court that the event had not been given water clearance.