No action against illegal borewells in Noida yet

GREATER NOIDA: The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration is yet to take action against illegal borewells, four days after the National Green Tribunal order, which directed sealing of borewells that are being operated without due permission.

On November 15, the NGT ordered the Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate and other agencies to seal all borewells that were being operated without ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) from the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the Jal Shakti ministry.

“We have issued directions to all departments concerned and have asked them to start taking action in accordance with the NGT order and seal all borewells that are being run without permission from the Union ministry’s water board. We have also formed committees and asked the authorities to start taking action in this regard and adhere to the NGT order,” said Suhas LY, district magistrate.

The NGT, while hearing a petition regarding illegal extraction of groundwater by 40 builders in Noida, came out with the order earlier this week.

The petition alleged that the authorities concerned had failed to prevent illegal commercial extraction of groundwater, resulting in its depletion.

A bench comprising chairperson AK Goel said the unregulated extraction of groundwater was detrimental to the environment and violated directions of the Supreme Court. The bench, also comprising justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, said regulation on groundwater extraction was necessary for conservation and to ensure adequate replenishment. The order further said, “In the absence of clear data, interim/floor level compensation can be equal to at least 0.5% of the project cost, apart from remedial action for the future. The project proponent may deposit compensation with the respective district magistrates and the state pollution control board within one month from today, failing which the district magistrate will be free to take coercive measures, including filing of theft cases against the projects that are extracting groundwater without permission and stopping ongoing projects. The final compensation may be assessed by a joint committee comprising regional director, CGWB; representative of Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and the district magistrate.”

The NGT on July 5, directed a joint team of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate to ‘verify facts’ and ‘submit an action taken report in two months’ into the allegations of groundwater extraction by realtors.

Subsequently, the district magistrate formed a sevenmember committee headed by chief development officer Tej Pratap Mishra in the same month. The committee consisted of Kapil Dev, senior manager, Greater Noida authority; Suniti Parashar, scientist, CPCB; Ankita Rai, hydrologist, CGWB; Ranjit Singh from UPPCB; Himanshu Gautam, UP irrigation department and two others. They filed their report to NGT on October 7, 2022.

NGT observed that 70% of the total 63 sites being developed by realtors were found extracting groundwater illegally.

“Our objective is to stop illegal groundwater extraction and conserve the precious natural resource,” said Pradip Dahalia, the petitioner in the case.

We issued directions to departments and have asked them to start taking action in accordance with the NGT order and seal all borewells that are being run without permission from the Jal Shakti ministry. SUHAS LY, district magistrate, GB Nagar