India, Sept. 22 -- New Delhi

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has hit out at the state governments of Delhi and Haryana, along with central and state agencies, for failing to take responsibility over recent fish deaths in the Delhi stretch of the Yamuna. It directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to convene a joint meeting and prepare a plan to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

Last July, the NGT took suo motu cognisance of a media report highlighting death of thousands of fish in the Yamuna, near Burari in north Delhi. Similar incidents were reported this May as well.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava, in an order dated September 17, said that despite the issue of high pollution arising...