NOIDA: More than 35 builders in Greater Noida may have to pay an environmental compensation equal to 1% of their project cost for allegedly extracting groundwater without permission.
The groundwater wing of the Greater Noida Authority has recommended a total fine of Rs 144.3 crore to be collected from 38 builders in total in keeping with provisions of the central PWD.
The move followed an order from National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had asked Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) to calculate the compensation based on 0.5% of the project cost. But it failed to do so because the Greater Noida Authority could jot furnish details of the period of water extraction.
So, it decided on a blanket amount of 1% of the project cost.
“NGT had asked CGWA to calculate the environmental compensation on certain factors — the actual amount of groundwater extracted and the period of it. However, the Greater Noida Authority did not have any of this data. None of the project proponents had installed any water meters. So, the actual quantum of extraction and pumping hours could not be assessed. The Authority then came to the conclusion that the amount should align with guidelines of the CPWD, which is 1% of the project cost,” said DK Gupta, regional officer for the state pollution control board in Greater Noida.
The compensation had to be originally calculated for 41 builders, but the Authority did not have the project costs of three builders. The pollution board has now been asked to take action against these three builders.
The case dates back to June 2022, when environmentalists Prasoon Pant and Pradeep Kumar Dahlia filed a petition in the NGT, alleging that groundwater was being illegally extracted at 63 construction sites in Greater Noida.
The tribunal formed a district-level panel that included the DM and officials of the state and central pollution control boards to investigate the allegations. By 2023, the panel concluded that at least 38 developers involved in 41 projects were flouting the norms.
When NGT had ordered that compensation be calculated on 0.5% of the project cost, some builders had raised objections, saying that a company extracting water for 5 years and another doing so for 2 years could not be slapped the same fine.
The tribunal then sought a final report on the compensation amount.
Some builders denied using groundwater at their project sites. Among them was Anuj Choudhary, the director of Panchsheel Buildtech Pvt Ltd.
“We have been accused of extracting water at the site of our project, Panchsheel Hynish. But we have already submitted a receipt to NGT, showing that we used STP water from the Greater Noida Authority,” he said. “When several builders have gone into insolvency and others are busy clearing dues, how is this compensation justified,” he added.
In Noida, pre-monsoon groundwater level rose by around 2ft in a year — from 77ft to 75ft. In Greater Noida, there was a marginal dip from 44ft to 44.03ft.
