Noida: The principal bench of National Green Tribunal has sought a fresh report from the district magistrate on the number of ponds and other water bodies in the district and mention which civic body — Noida Authority, Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority or Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority — is responsible for their maintenance.The direction was passed last month when NGT was hearing an application by environmentalist Abhisht Kusum Gupta, in which he claimed that several water bodies have been encroached upon by residents in connivance with local authorities and are being used for commercial purposes.Encroachment of village ponds across the district has been a long-pending issue. Last year, Supreme Court as well as NGT had directed the district administration and the industrial authorities to remove the encroachments but which authority has jurisdiction over the ponds remained unclear. In July last year, NGT had also asked the district magistrate to furnish details related to the area of all the ponds and the extent of encroachment on them.Now, district magistrate Medha Roopam has filed an affidavit, stating that according to a notification issued under Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, “protection of water bodies situated within notified industrial areas stands vested with the concerned development authorities”. Therefore, the removal of encroachments and restoration of ponds are solely the responsibility of these bodies, the affidavit mentioned.Having perused the affidavit of DM, the tribunal said that the reply does not contain the area of each water body as per old revenue record and the area encroached thereupon. “A tabulated information is enclosed on page 2364, but the said tabulated information does not disclose as to which village falls within the territorial jurisdiction of which of the three Authorities and what action has been taken by them for removal of encroachment,” the tribunal said, directing the DM to file a fresh reply before the next date of hearing on Sept 25.
