43 Noida condos lack pollution board nod to operate STPs
Noida: An RTI reply has revealed that 43 group housing societies in the city lack the mandatory consent to operate (CTO) for their sewage treatment plants (STPs).
CTO is a mandatory authorisation issued by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.
It permits industries, commercial establishments, and group housing societies to operate their facilities while ensuring that their emissions, effluents, and waste management systems comply with environmental standards.
Amit Gupta, a resident of Prateek Wisteria in Sector 77, had filed an RTI application on April 29 asking the pollution control board for the list of societies without CTOs, the action taken against them, fines imposed and recovered, and the names of those societies against which cases were filed in the Special Pollution Court in Lucknow.
In its reply dated May 20, UPPCB stated that 43 group housing societies did not obtain the required CTO for their STPs. The list included prominent names such as Lotus Boulevard, Supertech Capetown, Sikka Karmic, Logix Blossom County, Antriksh Golf View, Ajnara Grand Heritage, Prateek Wisteria, NRI City Homes, and Logix Blossom Zest, among others.
As per the reply, prosecution proceedings have been initiated against 34 of the identified societies.
Of these, environmental compensation amounting to Rs 27 crore has been imposed on 30. Notices were sent to the rest.
However, the board stated it had no data in its records on how much of the fines were actually recovered. The current status of these cases in the special court was not available with the office.
Lack of CTOs does not necessarily mean that societies do not have functional STPs. On the other hand, in some cases, it may also indicate that societies never had STPs to begin with.
Additionally, many of them lack Occupancy Certificates (OC) and Completion Certificates (CC), pointing to a major procedural failure.
For example, Gupta's society, Prateek Wisteria, does not have a CTO but has had a functional STP since 2019.
"A large number of societies do not have CTOs to operate STPs, which suggests that occupancy and completion certificates were issued without the Authority verifying the status of STPs.
Of these 43 societies, about 60%-70% are located in sectors 74, 75, 76, 77, and 78. Many of them cannot even install STPs now due to lack of space within the premises and insufficient funds, as the builder has already handed over the project.
The Authority should intervene and lay a separate sewage pipeline connecting these societies to the nearest operational STP in Sector 50," Gupta told TOI.
Pointing out the lack of coordination between the UPPCB and the Noida Authority, Gupta stated, "The Authority and the pollution control board are not working together on this issue.
They conduct inspections separately and impose fines independently. Often, they are not even aware of each other's actions. Also, the responsibility of establishing STPs and obtaining CTOs lies with the builder, as per the law. It is not the responsibility of the AOA.
"
Meanwhile, Noida Authority officials said they are monitoring societies flouting environmental norms.
Noida CEO Lokesh M said, "OC/CCs are issued after checking whether societies have facilities such as STPs, fire safety, and lift clearances.
It is more of an operational issue, as the societies fail to run these facilities properly after homebuyers start living there. The Authority takes action as public health is at stake. However, it is the pollution control board's primary responsibility to impose fines and take legal action.
As far as the Authority is concerned, we will continue with our enforcement drive."
In a recent drive, the Authority took action against eight societies that either lacked functional STPs or were discharging untreated sewage into open drains, bypassing norms that require treated water to be released into sewer lines.
These included RG Residency in Sector 120, Sikka Karmic in Sector 78, Lotus Boulevard in Sector 100, Lotus Panache in Sector 110, Purvanchal Royal Park in Sector 137, Aims Max Gardenia in Sector 75, Prateek Stylome in Sector 45, and Amrapali Silicon City in Sector 76.
The drive also extended to Maharishi Ashram near Lotus Panache. The Authority wrote to the registrar of firms, societies, and chits in Meerut seeking cancellation of registration for both the Ashram and the Panache society.
However, the Allahabad High Court stayed coercive action against RG Residency. Noida officials said that an environmental cell has been formed to verify whether STPs have been installed. The cell has been asked to compile data on STPs in all group housing societies. As per rules, all residential societies with a floor area of 20,000 sqm or more must have an STP.
No new OC is currently being issued without verifying the CTO for the society's STP, officials added.
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