Sri Sri Ravishankar's Art of Living Foundation on Wednesday dubbed the National Green Tribunal panel's report on the Yamuna floodplains, where the World Culture Festival was held, entirely biased and lacking credibility. Calling the report unscientific, it said in a statement: "Any scientific assessment must have a quantifiable element to it. But after four months, the committee has not been able to attach a single evaluation to quantify the so-called damage they have reported."
The spiritual guru's organisation also questioned the expert panel referring to the location as a wetland. The committee submitted its 47-page report to the National Green Tribunal on Tuesday. "The ground is now totally leveled, compacted and hardened and is totally devoid of water bodies or depressions and almost completely devoid of any vegetation," it said, adding that the event destroyed the natural habitat of various organisms in the area.
The AOL statement said, "There is no reasoning that supports the conclusion they [the panel] seems to have come to...There is no analysis, no in-depth investigation, nor any test reports to support these conclusions."
The NGT had fined the foundation Rs 5 crore in March for causing damage to the floodplains through the massive festival. The NGT had earlier estimated an appropriate fine of Rs 120 crore, but it settled on the Rs 5-crore figure after a long set of deliberations. AOL paid the fine but said it will fight the NGT in court and win the money back.
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