NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has requested a response from the Noida Authority regarding alleged failures in stormwater management that resulted in waterlogging and the drowning of software engineer Yuvraj Mehta in Noida.
The tribunal acted after taking suo moto notice of a news article covering the incident where Mehta’s car fell into a flooded trench in Sector 150.
A bench comprising NGT Chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel observed a report indicating that “Mehta misjudged a sharp turn and, due to fog, ended up in the trench. The area was initially designated for a private mall but had turned into a stagnant pond due to rainwater and wastewater accumulating for a decade from nearby residential sites.”
Moreover, NGT highlighted that the stormwater management plan developed by the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department in 2015 has failed to materialize, despite several surveys and inspections.
“According to the report, the stormwater received an increasing discharge and many basements of nearby housing societies were flooded as rainwater could not be released into the Hindon River due to the absence of a regulator. This stagnation posed a risk of backflow into the river,” the tribunal stated.
The tribunal noted complaints from residents regarding the Noida Authority’s inaction on waterlogging issues, indicating “lapses by the Noida Authority in undertaking necessary remedial actions, ultimately leading to this tragedy. This situation breaches the Environment (Protection) Act, raising significant concerns regarding adherence to environmental regulations,” it remarked.
The NGT has included the Noida Authority, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, principal secretary of the state’s environment department, and the district magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar in the proceedings.
It instructed the relevant authorities to submit their responses via affidavit at least one week prior to the next hearing set for April 10.
