NOIDA: After being requested by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) five months ago to provide an action taken report on illegal constructions in Greater Noida, the Greater Noida Development Authority has not complied. The tribunal has now set a one-month deadline for the Authority to file an affidavit, with the next hearing scheduled for April 8.
A former municipal corporator, Rajendra Tyagi, filed a petition in 2021 concerning illegal constructions in Noida and Greater Noida, highlighting that unauthorized residential colonies and commercial establishments were extracting groundwater illegally and discharging sewage openly.
Tyagi’s attorney, advocate Akash Vashishta, noted that a July 27, 2025, order from the tribunal requested a list of illegal constructions, but the authorities have not responded. As a result, Tyagi’s legal team was instructed to provide the list.
During a hearing on January 5, the UP Pollution Control Board, another respondent in the case, submitted an affidavit confirming illegal constructions—both completed and ongoing—at 16 of the 24 sites listed. However, they did not take any action, citing the absence of an authorized representative to verify the built-up area at these locations.
The Pollution Control Board argued that the mandatory ‘consent to operate/consent to establish’ clause applies only to constructions exceeding 5,000 square meters. Due to the lack of confirmed built-up areas, no action could be taken. The board’s counsel mentioned that a letter was sent to the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) on December 19, 2025, requesting assistance in confirming the built-up areas, but there was no reply.
Advocate Vashishta stated that the petitioner had submitted the list to the Pollution Control Board and the Authority in December with the expectation that action would follow. He dismissed the board’s rationale for inaction as ‘baseless’ and emphasized that the primary issues were the extraction of groundwater and the discharge of sewage, regardless of the size of the projects.
