NGT Orders Restoration of Suav as River in UP | 02 Mar 2026

Why in News?

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to correct the official classification of the Suav from a drain/nullah to a river in revenue records and gazette notifications.

Key Points:

• Classification: The NGT ordered the Balrampur district magistrate to amend official records within three months, restoring the Suav’s legal status as a river instead of a drain, and to publish the correction in the Official Gazette and local newspapers.
  • The tribunal barred new construction or infrastructure in identified floodplain areas of the Suav until the active flood zone is properly demarcated. 
• Importance: The Suav is a tributary of the Rapti River in Balrampur district. 
  • It plays a vital role in flood mitigation and groundwater recharge by nourishing wetlands, lakes and ponds along its approximately 120 km course before joining the Rapti, itself part of the Ganga basin.
• Identity: The tribunal referred to early twentieth-century gazetteers that described the Suav as a significant tributary, noting that decades of land reclamation, encroachments and development led to its misclassification as a nullah.
• Monitoring: The NGT asked pollution control authorities to monitor water quality, including treated sewage and industrial effluents, and directed District Ganga Committees to adopt community-led river rejuvenation models to restore the Suav’s ecology.
• Legal Consequences: The tribunal warned that non-compliance with its orders would be an offence under Section 26 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.