Diljit concert: Delhi pollution body finds JLN stadium clean month after NGT order

New Delhi: A month after the National Green Tribunal ordered the immediate restoration of JLN stadium post singer Diljit Dosanjh's concert in the national capital, the Delhi pollution body has inspected it and found it clean.

Delhi Pollution Control Committee's (DPCC) report informed the NGT that it was the organiser's responsibility to maintain the cleanliness of a stadium, booked for non-sporting events.

"The Diljit Dosanjh concert was held on October 26 and 27, 2024, inside the main JLN stadium and several armoured decks were used to cover the football ground for the public to stand on so that the ground condition was not hampered," it said.

According to the report, an inspection was carried out on December 19, 2024, a month after the tribunal's order directing the DPCC to restore the stadium to its original position, clear all the debris dumped during the event, and file an action taken report within two weeks.

On November 19, 2024, the NGT passed the directions after taking a note of a news report which said, "The aftermath of the concert left the stadium grounds littered with trash, including broken glass bottles, beer cans, plastic wrappers, and other refuse and the mess was so significant that athletes were seen trying to clean up the stadium, but their efforts were in vain due to the sheer scale of the damage." According to the DPCC report dated December 27, an inspection was done to "ascertain the action taken by the Sports Authority of India (SAI)" on the issue.

The pollution body said it inspected all areas inside the stadium premises and observed "cleanliness throughout" with "no garbage or waste" dumped on the ground, spectators' seats, near gates or roads.

The body even found all public entry and exit points clean.

"JLN stadium is well equipped with several dustbins at regular intervals for usage of public, which were also found clean. There is a waste collection room in the stadium, where all the waste from all the dustbins is collected and stored, which is then cleaned weekly by the MCD trucks, as informed by SAI officials," it said.

Citing the version of SAI officials, the report said only the inner ground and running tracks were closed for athletes during the concert but they could use the outer ground and its tracks as public entry was restricted there.

On the tribunal’s question over the rules for the use of stadia for such events, the report referred to SAI's statement and said the terms and conditions for such events include "during the booking period, cleaning and scavenging of areas booked/being utilised, will be the responsibility of the organiser and the same will be handed over to SAI in a neat and clean state after the program".

If it was found unclean within 24 hours of the completion of an event, SAI would get the complex cleaned by an agency, with expenditures being borne from the organiser's security deposit, it said.

It came on record that SAI approved and allowed non-sporting events across its stadia in July, 2013, in Delhi.

Dosanjh's concert witnessed about 70,000 people in attendance, with trash littered on running tracks post event.