NOIDA: A commercial plot in Sector 150, where software engineer Yuvraj Mehta drowned on January 16, is now under scrutiny for civic lapses. The plot’s owner, Wiztown Planners, claims that the Noida Authority ordered the removal of barricades at the site in July 2021.
“The area was previously barricaded. The Noida Authority intervened and instructed Wiztown to take down the barricades, which included advertisements for their project named Artham,” Wiztown’s counsel stated to TOI on Monday. Last week, Wiztown’s director, Abhay Kumar, was arrested and named in two FIRs—one for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and negligence, and the other under environment protection and water pollution acts.
During the bail hearing, the counsel also stated that in March 2022, Wiztown notified Noida Authority about the collapse of the Authority’s sewer and drainage lines at several locations, causing raw sewage to continuously flow into Plot SC/02, A-3, owned by the company.
A senior Noida Authority official responded, asserting that Wiztown had illegally displayed advertisements on the barricades, which were then ordered to be removed. “The Noida Authority never compromised safety measures at the site. Safety and hygiene standards are clearly outlined in the sub-lease agreements. Simple barricades could have been installed without advertising to maintain safety,” the official elaborated.
