NOIDA: The Allahabad High Court has instructed the Noida Authority to provide a comprehensive affidavit detailing the process by which occupancy certificates (OCs) were issued for the Lotus Boulevard project, despite claims concerning incomplete sewage treatment facilities.
This order, dated July 7, was in response to a petition lodged by the apartment owners’ association, which asserted that the essential sewage treatment plants (STPs) were not operational when the certificates were granted.
The bench, comprising Justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Vinod Diwakar, has mandated that the Authority’s CEO submit the affidavit by the next hearing scheduled for July 16. The report must address several critical points, including the number of STPs required at the time OCs were issued in 2012 and 2016. It should also detail the STPs constructed by the developer, including their handover dates and completion status prior to the issuance of the certificates, thereby determining if Granite Gate Properties adhered to building regulations and environmental standards.
The court additionally requested a detailed assessment of the current status of all STPs within the society, including their number and capacity. The affidavit must also identify officials responsible for infrastructure verification prior to granting occupancy certificates for each tower, as well as any corrective actions taken by the Authority or resolution professionals regarding deficiencies within the STP system.
The AOA also claimed that some Authority officials, in collusion with the builder, issued occupancy certificates for several towers without ensuring that four mandatory STPs were fully constructed. The petition indicated that only “one and a half STPs were partially completed” at the time of certification—initially for towers 1-7 in August 2012, and later for towers 8-10, 12, 12A, and 14-27 in March 2016.
The Authority refuted these allegations, asserting that all approvals were granted in accordance with building regulations and environmental guidelines. This legal scrutiny arises amidst the Authority’s broader crackdown on housing societies with non-operational STPs. Since April, numerous societies have faced FIRs under environmental regulations and fines ranging between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 30 lakh for discharging untreated sewage into stormwater drains.
This enforcement initiative has impacted several properties, including RG Residency, Lotus Panache, Sikka Karmik, Purvanchal Royal Park, Aims Max Gardenia, Prateek Stylome, and Amrapali Silicon City. The Authority has even sought to revoke registrations for multiple societies and has filed police complaints against others, including Supertech Cape Town’s AOA.
However, the High Court temporarily halted any action against RG Residency in May. A recent Right to Information inquiry has disclosed that 43 group housing societies in Noida lack the essential ‘consent to operate’ for their STPs.
