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Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding marking of blue and red line of rivers in Maharashtra, 08/12/2022

  • 08/12/2022

Order of the National Green Tribunal (Western Zone Bench, Pune) in the matter of Sarang Yadvadkar & Others Vs The State of Maharashtra dated 08/12/2022.

Two weeks time has been granted to the Irrigation Department, Pune to file an affidavit on why in ten districts of Maharashtra the work of marking blue line and red line has not been done and why their names are missing from the list of cities identified as highly flood flow areas.

The application was filed by Sarang Yadwadkar, April 14, 2022.

In a previous affidavit filed by the Irrigation Department and taken up by the NGT, August 3, 2022 it was mentioned that in the state of Maharashtra "a stretch of 1188 kms of the river is to be demarcated. Out of 1188 kms, 1071 Kms stretch has been demarcated for Red Line and Blue line".

There are two types of flood lines, Red and Blue. The Blue Flood Lines mark the level of the flood that comes every 25 years whereas the Red Flood Lines mark level of the flood which comes every 100 years. The portion of land between the two Blue Flood Lines is known as “Prohibitive zone” where no construction is permissible. And the portion of land between Blue Flood Line and Red Flood Lines is known as “Restrictive Zone” where construction is permissible but under certain conditions.