Art of Living pays up Rs 4.75 cr
New Delhi: June 7, 2016, DHNS
The Art of Living Foundation has submitted the remaining amount of Rs 4.75 crore as “environment compensation” but maintains that its cultural event did not cause any damage to the Yamuna floodplains here.
Terming the allegations “baseless”, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s foundation said that the amount was not a fine but compensation and they have paid it to demonstrate “good citizenship”.
The foundation said it did not get a chance to produce the evidence before the National Green Tribunal, where the case is still being heard.
“If we win this case, we will get this money back,” Jaideep Nath, the Art of Living (AoL) spokesperson said on Monday.
The foundation has now paid the entire amount of Rs 5 crore to the Delhi Development Authority, as ordered by the green court.
The foundation presented Google satellite images and maps before the media to argue that there was no existence of any wetland in the area.
It denied allegations of levelling around 1,000 acres of land for the event in March. It said the area was already levelled due to farming since 2000. “We have spot Google images which are authenticated with a stamp from 2000 up to 2016, which clearly show that this is agricultural land.”
This means, farmers levelled the land and ploughed it. Vegetables are being grown since 2005,” said Prabhakar Rao, landscape architect and environmental consultant.
The expert said that according to the Survey of India, 1986, the area where the festival was held is not classified as a wetland.
“It was wrongly portrayed that the area was a wetland and we destroyed it. Cultural events are not allowed on wetlands, but on a floodplain, like the Kumbh mela,” Rao said.
“An analysis of independent satellite images and maps of the site before and after the event clearly proves that the site had no water body before the event. This establishes that the allegations of the Art of Living tampering with water bodies and wetlands are baseless and concocted,” he added.
The foundation also showed images from 2006 which it says prove that the roads and the ramps already existed and are being wrongly alleged to have been made by them.
DH News Service
Terming the allegations “baseless”, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s foundation said that the amount was not a fine but compensation and they have paid it to demonstrate “good citizenship”.
The foundation said it did not get a chance to produce the evidence before the National Green Tribunal, where the case is still being heard.
“If we win this case, we will get this money back,” Jaideep Nath, the Art of Living (AoL) spokesperson said on Monday.
The foundation has now paid the entire amount of Rs 5 crore to the Delhi Development Authority, as ordered by the green court.
The foundation presented Google satellite images and maps before the media to argue that there was no existence of any wetland in the area.
It denied allegations of levelling around 1,000 acres of land for the event in March. It said the area was already levelled due to farming since 2000. “We have spot Google images which are authenticated with a stamp from 2000 up to 2016, which clearly show that this is agricultural land.”
This means, farmers levelled the land and ploughed it. Vegetables are being grown since 2005,” said Prabhakar Rao, landscape architect and environmental consultant.
The expert said that according to the Survey of India, 1986, the area where the festival was held is not classified as a wetland.
“It was wrongly portrayed that the area was a wetland and we destroyed it. Cultural events are not allowed on wetlands, but on a floodplain, like the Kumbh mela,” Rao said.
“An analysis of independent satellite images and maps of the site before and after the event clearly proves that the site had no water body before the event. This establishes that the allegations of the Art of Living tampering with water bodies and wetlands are baseless and concocted,” he added.
The foundation also showed images from 2006 which it says prove that the roads and the ramps already existed and are being wrongly alleged to have been made by them.
DH News Service
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