NOIDA: A showcause notice was issued to Ace Group after a govt team found 60 borewells at one of its project sites off Yamuna Expressway. At least 10 of the borewells at the site of YXP township in Sector 22D were found fitted with motors, which augmented their capacity to draw water.
The inspection was carried out by the groundwater wing of the district administration on Wednesday after a video circulated on social media purportedly showed dirty water being drained out of the project site.
While examining the area, the team found that much of the land had been dug up, causing water to come out. Officials also found that 60 borewells were scattered across the site.
Hydrologist Ankita Rai, who led the inspection team, said the construction site was in Jewar block, which comes under ‘overexploited’ zone in terms of groundwater level.
“On Wednesday, our team inspected the site and found borewells scattered here and there. There were several pipelines that were being used to drain out dirty water from the project site,” she added.
Rai explained that an NOC from the groundwater wing was mandatory for extracting water at construction sites. But since Jewar block is anyway in the ‘overexploited’ zone, no permission can be given for this site.
Project sites, she added, should buy treated water from STPs installed by development authorities.
“The builder has been given 15 days to respond. We will take action accordingly. If we find that no NOC has been taken, we will also impose a fine on the developer as well,” the hydrologist said.
According to a latest govt report, groundwater level in Greater Noida has depleted by 2.3m in the past six years.
Officials said that in the past one year, they had received around 30 complaints regarding water being extracted using borewells at project sites. In May last year, UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) had imposed a fine of Rs 76.5 crore on 38 builders for extracting water.
The Yamuna Expressway Authority, which has jurisdiction over the area, will conduct an inquiry of its own. “We will have to find out if they have been following all the norms at the construction site. We will conduct an internal inquiry and take action accordingly,” said Arun Vir Singh, the Authority CEO.
The land on which YXP is coming up was taken over by Ace Group from Three C company following an order by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The case reached NCLT in 2019, when a buyer of Lotus City, which was launched 13 years ago, moved the tribunal against a delay in delivering developed plots. Lotus City had 500 buyers in total.
In June last year, NCLT approved a resolution plan submitted by Ace to complete the project.
Representatives of Ace Group did not respond to queries by TOI on the inspection and showcause notice.
