4 days ago
NGT asks for pond-wise data after admin report in Gautam Budh Nagar
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the district administration to submit a more detailed, tehsil-wise report on the original area and extent of encroachment on water bodies in Gautam Budh Nagar. The report must include ownership details, geographic coordinates, and original area based on 1359 fasli land records. NGT asks for pond-wise data after admin report in Gautam Budh Nagar
This directive followed the administration's submission on July 15 of a tehsil-wise summary, which the tribunal found inadequate. NGT granted an additional three weeks to compile complete data for each pond.
The hearing took place on July 17 before an NGT bench comprising chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel. The case concerns a petition filed by Noida-based applicant Abhisht Kusum Gupta against the Uttar Pradesh government and others.
Representing district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma, additional advocate general Garima Prasadh submitted a compliance report dated July 15. This report was filed in continuation of NGT's order from March 19, which had directed the DM to verify the original area of each pond using 1359 Fasli land records and identify encroachments.
According to the district administration, Gautam Budh Nagar has 1,018 ponds across three tehsils—Dadri, Sadar, and Jewar. Their total original area, based on Fasli records, is 461.8107 hectares, with 49.9941 hectares currently encroached.
A tehsil-wise breakdown from the report shows that Dadri has 480 ponds across 227.5292 hectares of which 16.922 hectares are encroached upon. Sadar has 245 ponds across 111.2835 hectares of which 30.2558 hectares are encroached, and Jewar has 293 ponds across 122.9980 hectares of which 2.8163 hectares are encroached
However, the tribunal noted that the compliance report lacked specific details for each pond, such as its exact area and the portion under encroachment. The bench gave the administration three more weeks to submit a comprehensive, tehsil-wise report with full particulars.
'Though the report discloses the total area of all ponds according to 1359 Fasli and the total encroached area, it does not include details for each individual pond,' the NGT bench observed.
Other respondents, including the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida), submitted action-taken reports. Officials from the Greater Noida authority also submitted a report, but NGT said it was filed late and has not yet been placed on record. The Noida authority has yet to submit its response and was given three more weeks to do so.
The next hearing is scheduled for October 17.
