Haridwar top hotel sealed for polluting Ganga

Tribune News Service

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Haridwar, May 23 

The Haridwar district administration today sealed five-star hotel Radisson Blu for not having a sewerage treatment plant (STP) and thus polluting the Ganga following the directives of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).  

NGT regional officer Dr Ankur Kansal and sub-divisional magistrate Veer Chandra Singh Budhiyal sealed the hotel amid heavy police presence and resistance form hotel owners and staff.

An investigating committee, comprising members of the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board and the Central Environment Ministry, had found that the hotel was discharging its waste into a rivulet in the absence of an STP.

The hotel, the lone five-star in the city, had neither installed a treatment plant on the hotel premise nor responded to a notice issued by the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board in January. Rajeev Malhotra, director, Radisson Blu, sought time from the administrative team, but to no avail. 

While guests occupying the hotel had to leave, others felt agitated over cancellation of their booking. The NGT and the administrative team also served a notice on Hotel Lakshya, near Gurukul Kangri University, for not having a proper sewerage system.

SDM Veer Chandra Singh Budhiyal said the pollution board had also issued notices to three other hotels.