India, June 23 -- The Pune bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday issued an order prohibiting J Kumar Infraprojects Ltd from operating its ready mix concrete (RMC) plant in Thane. The plant, located within the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), manufactures girders for various ongoing metro rail projects.

The bench of justices Dinesh Kumar Singh and Dr Vijay Kulkarni passed the order on a petition filed by Vanshakti, a Mumbai-based nonprofit, which alleged that the RMC plant was functioning illegally, without due permissions, and its operations were destroying the ecology around the Chene and Bhayander Pada villages.

In the petition, Vanshakti claimed that over 27 plots in the two forest...