Palghar: Vasai School Gets Relief As NGT Dismisses Plea Alleging Illegal Construction, River Encroachment And Sewage Discharge

Mumbai, August 22, 2026: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has dismissed an environmental application filed against Gnyanodaya Multipurpose High School & Jr. College alleging that there was illegal construction, encroachment on a river course and discharge of untreated sewage by the Vasai-based educational institute, following a Joint Committee report, which did not find any substance in the complaint.

The tribunal, in its seven-page order, maintained that the reports did not find the site to have any wrongdoing in connection with any encroachment or illegal construction.

NGT Dismisses Application

The orders were passed on the application filed by environmentalist Rajiv Bhagelu Gupta. “We have heard the arguments of learned counsel for the parties and perused the records. The main emphasise during the arguments laid by the applicant was that an STP has not been set up by respondent no. 2 (school) in their premises because of which the sewage is flowing into the nalla polluting the water at site in question. But no such discharge was found by the Joint Committee Report which is evident and we do not find any force in the objections raised against the said report by the learned counsel for applicant. He has also sent us set of pendrives, containing the position of site in question with respect to the pollution happening in the nalla but the same could not be opened. Therefore, we did not have the benefit of watching the said video of the site in question. In view of the report submitted by the Joint Committee we do not find any force in the application and we dismiss it,” the order copy reads.

The applicant had sought directions for removal of alleged illegal structures on Survey Nos. 11D and 11A at Village Kolhi and restoration of the affected area.

He had also sought revocation of the commencement and occupancy certificates issued by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation until compliance with environmental and forest regulations, besides restoration of the allegedly damaged watercourse.

Allegations Against School

According to the application, the school buildings were constructed close to a natural river course originating from the Tungareshwar hills and allegedly without maintaining the mandatory nine-metre buffer.

The applicant further alleged that portions of the riverbed were filled with sand and construction waste and that a compound wall had altered the natural flow of the watercourse.

He also alleged that untreated sewage was being discharged into the river and that the access road to the school passed through protected forest land without the requisite approval.

The school, however, denied the allegations and contended that the application was frivolous. It claimed that the applicant had earlier filed two PILs before the Bombay High Court concerning the structures, which were disposed of with directions to make a detailed representation to the concerned Municipal Commissioner.

The school maintained that its buildings stood on Survey No. 11D, which was not forest land, and that Survey No. 11A had been denotified as forest land in 1942. It also denied causing any obstruction or pollution to the watercourse.

Joint Committee Inspects Site

The NGT had earlier constituted a Joint Committee to inspect the site and determine whether there was any encroachment, whether the construction was illegal and whether sewage was being discharged into a water body or stream causing contamination.

The committee’s inspection report, as recorded by the tribunal, noted that the school had obtained commencement certificates for the proposed construction.

It also recorded that the completed construction was being used as a school and that the institution had provided two septic tanks. The Forest Department, meanwhile, reported that the approach road to the old building required further examination regarding forest-law compliance.

The tribunal noted that the Joint Committee had not found any encroachment by the school or any illegal construction at the site.

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Applicant Raises Further Concerns

The applicant objected to the committee’s findings, arguing that the absence of a sewage treatment plant, the presence of only two septic tanks for an institution catering to around 4,500 students, groundwater extraction and the use of an approach road passing through protected forest land warranted a deeper environmental inquiry.

“In view of the report submitted by the Joint Committee,” the tribunal said, it found no force in the application and dismissed it.

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