NGT won’t halt RRTS construction in Sahibabad drain, tells NCRPB to hear plea

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), which was hearing a petition from a Ghaziabad resident seeking a halt to the construction of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project in the Sahibabad drain’s buffer zone, refused to ban the construction activities and instead ordered the member secretary of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRB) to hear the petitioner’s complaint.

NCRB is an authority under the central government’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs that prepares and coordinates the enforcement and implementation of the regional development plan of NCR and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

“We direct the NCR planning board’s member secretary to resolve the petitioner’s grievance raised in the representation dated October 15, 2022, within two months of receipt of a copy of this order. Meanwhile, we make it clear that construction will continue in accordance with the Tribunal’s earlier order in OA No. 624/2023,” NGT said in its order on August 31.

“Since the issue of drain protection and ensuring free flow is being overseen by a joint committee headed by NCRPB, the grievance, if any, can be first considered by the said committee instead of multiplying proceedings on the issue,” it added. In its order, the tribunal referred to its previous order from September 26, which said there should be no change in the drain’s natural course.

Sushil Raghav had petitioned the tribunal, claiming that the NCR transport corporation (NCRTC), the agency executing the RRTS project, was illegally constructing railway tracks and a station beneath the Sahibabad drain and had completely diverted the drain towards Vaishali and Vasundhara. He said NCRTC had illegally begun setting up RRTS pillars and building tracks on the drain and buffer zone.

“The construction is being carried out in close coordination with the local authorities after taking all necessary approvals. Furthermore, the drain will be restored to its original form after the construction is over,” an NCRTC spokesperson said on Monday.

“I will submit my representation to NCRPB, requesting demolition of the construction and imposing high environmental compensation costs. I will continue to seek legal remedies to obtain suitable directions regarding such construction, whether made by private entities or government agencies,” said Raghav, the petitioner.

On February 10, NGT issued an order on a similar issue. It had directed Ghaziabad civic officials to restore the city’s major Sahibabad drain as soon as possible and make it free of pollution and encroachments within six months.

The green court ruled in May 2022 that all constructions, encroachments and coverings on the drain bed were illegal. It had ordered these be demolished, regardless of previous permissions granted by the Ghaziabad municipal corporation. It had also announced a 12-metre buffer zone from the edge of the Sahibabad drain in Ghaziabad.

The instructions were given in connection with more than two dozen major companies, hotels, restaurants, developer sites, and showrooms that have encroached, built on, or covered the drain, which has an estimated average width of 50-60 feet and a daily discharge of 127 million litres.

The May order was in response to a petition filed by Haji Arif, a resident of Sahibabad.