DEHRADUN: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has requested the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board and the Haridwar-Roorkee Development Authority to respond to accusations of illegal construction and environmental breaches at the Mantra Happy Homes Group housing project in Haridwar. The hearing is scheduled for April 7.
This order was issued on January 12 in response to a petition by resident Sanjeev Kumar, who argued that the housing project was initially approved for 170 flats and 68 plots, with a designated green park area of 2,202.7 square meters. He claimed that the project was altered, increasing the flats to 272 without a corresponding increase in land area, with fewer than half of the original approved units on-site.
The petitioner further noted that the project area exceeded 20,000 square meters and lacked the required environmental clearance as per the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of 2006.
The filed petition stated that the pollution control board had conditionally approved the project, mandating the creation of a three-tier green belt, the establishment of a sewage treatment plant, and the obtaining of a consent to operate (CTO) to meet pollution control standards. The petitioner alleged that these conditions were not fulfilled.
Moreover, the petition claimed that possession of the flats was transferred to buyers in December 2017, prior to the issuance of the CTO. The CTO, which expired in March 2020, has not been renewed. Additional complaints include an illegal borewell and encroachment on green spaces, with environmental penalties from the pollution control board remaining unpaid.
