Greater Noida: GNIDA told to check maps, approvals of colonies near Surajpur wetland

GREATER NOIDA: In a move to curb encroachments near the Surajpur wetland, the forest
department has asked the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) to
designate an officer to check whether the maps of the adjoining colonies had been approved
and how so many of them have mushroomed in the area.
The move comes after National Green Tribunal (NGT) constituted a panel for remedial action
against illegal encroachments near the Surajpur reserved forest, which the state government is
yet to notify as a wetland under the Wetland Conservation and Management Rules, 2017.
In an order issued on December 15, 2021, a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh
Kumar Goel had constituted a four-member committee led by the Gautam Budh Nagar district
magistrate (DM) for looking into a complaint about the illegal encroachments. The bench had
also sought an action taken report from the committee, and it will take up the matter again on
March 9, 2022.

The committee, including officials from the state wetland authority and the state pollution control
board, the GB Nagar DM and the GB Nagar divisional forest officer (DFO)-the designated nodal
agency for “coordination and compliance”-is now poised to verify the complaint and take
remedial measures by the law. The Surajpur area is protected under the India Forest Act, 1927.
Several environmentalists have raised concerns about “illegal colonies” on plots near the
wetland.
DFO PK Srivastava, when contacted, said that since the GNIDA is not a part of the committee,
the department has separately asked it to look into the issue. “GNIDA can check how such
houses have come up since the area is under their jurisdiction and is private land. We have
asked it to nominate one officer to be part of the action plan,” he said.
DM Suhas LY said that there would be a meeting soon on the issue, according to the NGT
order. “We will look into all the points mentioned by the NGT, and since the responsibility will lie
on the administration, all stakeholders, including GNIDA and police, will be directed to identify
the cause of encroachment and take action as per the Industrial (Development and Regulation)
Act, 1951, and the Zoning Regulations, 2010. GNIDA will check if the maps approve such
houses, and if not, it can receive directions to remove the encroachments,” he said.
GNIDA CEO Narendra Bhooshan said that the authority would readily help, but the department
concerned or police needed to file a complaint first. “They can lodge a police complaint or
approach the authority with a complaint after which we will look into the encroachment
allegations, and subsequently, take action,” he said.
Designation of 6 sites pending with SC
A spot visit to Surajpur showed that colonies have come up less than 20 metres from the
boundary wall of the reserved area, with ground-level water often extracted from borewells
inside the houses. Amar Singh, who has built a two-floor house in the area, said, “We bought
this land from a private dealer in 2018. Most houses here are three to four years old. We have
registries, electricity connections, and borewells. Nobody has said anything for so many years.
Are we going to face action now?”
The Surajpur wetland, a reserved forest, was called a wetland by the NGT in 2018, stopping all
construction activities on the 308-hectare area as per the 2017 wetland rules. During the
summer of 2018, the Surajpur wetland had turned dry for over two months, leading to
allegations by local environmentalists that constructions in the area had interfered with the
natural flow of water into the wetland. They have been demanding that six sites near the
Surajpur forest get the wetland designation, too. Currently, the matter is pending with the
Supreme Court. The UP government has filed an affidavit with the court in this case.
“In its affidavit, the state government has said that the land around the forest area boundary wall
is private, but these houses have come up without a NOC (no objection certificate) from the
GNIDA, and the ground level extraction is dangerous for the wetland. Under Sections 3 and 5 of
the Environment Protection Act, 1986, the state government and the central government can
take action against any activity, which can damage a wetland,” environmentalist Vikrant Tongad
said.

The last bird count carried out by the Asian Wetland Census (AWC) in 2021 estimated that
3,107 waterbirds, including 40 species, had visited the wetland.
Gate on the Devla Village side will be closed
DFO PK Srivastava said that the Surajpur wetland has two gates, but the gate from the heavilycolonised Devla village will be completely closed. Instead, another gate will open on the 130-
metre main road near the wetland. Wetland in charge Ram Avtar confirmed that the gate from
the Devla village side will be closed because “there is too much movement and noise pollution”
from that side