Noida authority demolishes farmhouses on Yamuna floodplains

Officials of the Noida authority said they took action after several farmers and environmentalists demanded the demolition of all illegal structures as they hinder the flow of the river and also damage the ecological integrity of the floodplains

The Noida authority on Friday demolished 10 farmhouses that were built on the floodplains of the Yamuna river in violation of National Green Tribunal directions.

The NGT, in a May 20, 2013 order, had directed the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to clear all concrete structures built illegally on notified no-development zones on the NCR floodplains. (Sourced)

“We have demolished 10 farmhouses built illegally on the floodplains of the Yamuna river in sectors 134 and 135. We will continue demolishing illegal farmhouses every week,” said Prasoon Diwvedi, officer on special duty, Noida authority.

The NGT, in a May 20, 2013 order, had directed the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to clear all concrete structures built illegally on notified no-development zones on the NCR floodplains.

Officials of the Noida authority said they took action after several farmers and environmentalists demanded the demolition of all illegal structures as they hinder the flow of the river and also damage the ecological integrity of the floodplains.

According to an old UP government survey, there were 319 illegal farmhouses occupying 124 hectares of the Yamuna floodplains in Noida till 2012. After that, several more illegal structures came up in the area. In 2018, the authority’s survey showed there were at least 1,000 farmhouses on the floodplain in violation of rules.Then Uttar Pradesh solid waste management monitoring committee chairman justice DP Singh had on June 12, 2019 directed the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation department and the Noida authority to demolish all illegal houses and define the flood zone where no construction is allowed.

“Building structures such as farmhouses or concrete roads on floodplains is prohibited as it damages the ecological integrity of the Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganga river. A notification issued on October 7, 2016, by the ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation clearly said that the government needs to protect the ecology of the rivers. The authority must file FIRs against the land mafia for polluting the groundwater as occupants of these farmhouses dump sewage into the floodplains. The demolition must continue until all structures or obstructions to the flow of the river are razed,” environmental activist and lawyer Akash Vashishth said.

On March 24, farmers of Nagli Nagla village located along the Yamuna river threatened to sit on a fast unto death outside the Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate’s office to protest against the authorities for failing to stop the land mafia from constructing buildings on the Yamuna floodplains.

However, the next day authorities promised to take action and requested the farmers to not protest.

While farmers have not actively protested since then, they said they are waiting for the authorities to continue taking action.

“We demand that all farmhouses built by the land mafia should be demolished. The authority demolishes some farmhouses and then leave thousands operational,” Guddu Chauhan, a farmer from Wazirpur, said.