NEW DELHI, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- India's environmental court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has held spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's foundatio, the Art of Living (AoL), responsible for causing damage to the Yamuna floodplains last year, officials said Friday.
The green panel headed by its chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, however, refused to impose any further environment compensation on the Shankar's foundation and said the amount of 744,262 U.S. dollars (INR 50 million) which was submitted by it (AoL) earlier would be used for the restoration of the floodplains.
"Yesterday NGT said AoL foundation's act of holding the World Cultural Festival on Yamuna floodplains in March 2016 damaged the fragile ecosystem and riverbed," an official of NGT said. "It said in case if the expenditure of the restoration crosses the cost of INR 50 million then it would be recovered from the AoL."
AoL, meanwhile, said it will move to country's Supreme Court against the NGT verdict.
Earlier this year, a team of experts submitted a report to NGT saying last year's event along Yamuna floodplain had "completely destroyed" the riverbed.
The festival was held across 1,000 acres of the river bank featuring vast stage for 35,000 musicians and dancers.
The experts said reversing the damage will take at least 10 years and about 6.5 million U.S. dollars.
Citing environmental concerns, environmentalists last year demanded the three-day "World Culture Festival" organised by Shankar be disallowed.
However, NGT directed the organisers of the event to pay a fine of 744,262 U.S. dollars (INR 50 million) as compensation for the environmental damage the event is likely to cause to the floodplains.
The event apart from raising environmental concerns triggered a controversy over involvement of Indian army troops into organising the private event.
The private event was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who shared stage with Shankar.
