Jhansi: The principal bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi, took a strict view of encroachment, pollution, and construction inside the 17th-century historic Laxmi Taal in Jhansi.It ordered the constitution of a high-level joint investigation committee comprising representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Survey of India, and a senior officer not below the rank of joint secretary from the Regional office of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), Lucknow to conduct an investigation and submit its report.The MoEFCC, Lucknow officer was designated as the nodal officer of the committee. The committee was directed to conduct a site inspection, verify the original boundaries and area of Laxmi Talab on the basis of old revenue records, identify encroachments and constructions in the pond as well as its catchment .The Tribunal also directed the district magistrate and SSP, Jhansi, to extend full cooperation to the committee.The committee was given two months to complete the investigation and submit its status report before the NGT. The matter was listed for the next hearing on April 13.The principal bench, comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava, chairperson, and A Senthil Vel, expert member, stated in its order dated January 8, and referred to its earlier order dated September 14, 2022, for the protection of the Tal from illegal construction. It noted that the Tribunal recorded the assurance of the principal secretary, urban development, Uttar Pradesh, regarding remedial action for protection of the water body, and accordingly disposed of the original application earlier filed by Narendra Kushwaha.The applicant, Bhanu Sahay, filed an additional submission on December 31, 2025, stating that the Tribunal’s order was flagrantly violated and that the constructions in the Tal and in the catchment area remained unchanged, posing a serious threat to the very existence of the pond, which has unique historic importance since the time of Maharani Lakshmibai.Advocate for the applicant, Akash Vashishtha, said the applicant also stated that, out of the 33.068 hectares of pond area endorsed in the govt papers, 12 hectares were arbitrarily and illegally removed from the natural periphery of the pond and filled with concrete, causing serious and irreparable damage to the natural character of the water body, the catchment structure, and ecological balance. It was also alleged that the municipal corporation directly discharged sewage sludge from over a dozen colonies into the pond.
