Booking a banquet hall in Ghaziabad may cost 25 pct more after NGT order

New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) Now on, the hiring of a farmhouse or a banquet hall in Ghaziabad for a wedding or a party would entail payment of 25 percent of the rental amount to the concerned district magistrate for cleaning the premises after the event, the National Green Tribunal has ruled.

In case, the person who has booked the premises cleans it up "properly and in a complete manner, then such a guarantee amount would be refundable to him", the green panel ordered.

The order came on a plea seeking action against banquet and marriage halls in Ghaziabad alleging these were running without taking consent under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 from the pollution control board.

Noting that neither the private parties nor the authorities took any step to remove garbage after such functions, a bench of Justice R S Rathore and expert member S S Garbyal also directed that no banquet hall or farmhouse in Ghaziabad would be allowed to be constructed without due permission from the concerned authorities.

"In case such constructions have come into existence after due permission under a law from the concerning authorities, then, before letting out the same for functions like marriage/parties etc., due consent should be obtained from the Pollution Control Board, Central Ground Water Authority and other concerning authorities, in accordance to the relevant laws.

"A person who hires such premises, fully constructed or open lawns with temporary construction, should give a performance guarantee of 25 percent of the rental amount and deposit it with District Magistrate for cleaning of the area after the function is over," the bench said.

The tribunal said in case the person hiring the premises fails to get it cleaned,

then the authority with whom money is deposited shall issue appropriate directions for cleaning up the area by utilizing the guarantee amount.

"We direct the concerning authorities to take immediate action against the premises for marriage/parties etc who have not obtained due permission under the relevant law," the bench said.

The tribunal had earlier issued a notice to authorities on a plea filed by Ghaziabad residents Sushil Raghav and Akash Vashishtha alleging that several banquet halls and farmhouses in Ghaziabad were running without requisite environmental permissions.

"The application pertains to construction and operation of a large number of baraat ghar/wedding farm houses/banquet hall/party halls and such events happening in open lawns and green belt area without obtaining any consent...

"The banquet halls and party halls also violate the provision of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000 as severe noise pollution is caused due to the loud music played by the organizers of the event. It is further submitted that they extract a huge quantity of groundwater without any NOC from Central Ground Water Authority," the plea had said and sought demolition of such premises.