Ghaziabad: Unauthorised activities rampant on Hindon floodplains

A team of Hindustan Times in early January visited the floodplains of the river and found that those responsible for the non-designated activities are drawing water through submersibles and pipes and dumping the waste in the river.

The land belonging to agriculturalists on the Hindon floodplains near Kanawani is being misused for ecologically harmful activities such as storage of construction material, drawing water for washing it and emptying the discharge into the Hindon.

The occupants have installed motor pumps to draw water from the river. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Activists said that the activities are taking place for nearly a decade and officials of the Ghaziabad Development Authority, UP irrigation department and the police know about it.

“The activities have mushroomed in the last five years. Apart from dumping of construction material, stone crushers, godowns and even permanent constructions have come up on the floodplains,” Alok Kumar, president of federation of association of apartment owners, Ghaziabad, said. “From the households, the sewage is also flowing directly into the river,”he said.

A team of Hindustan Times in early January visited the floodplains of the river and found that those responsible for the non-designated activities are drawing water through submersibles and pipes and dumping the waste in the river. The occupants have also installed motor pumps to draw water. VN Singh, GDA’s chief engineer, said that jurisdiction of the land is with the UP irrigation department and they must take action. GDA vice-chairperson Ritu Maheshwari directed the irrigation department officials to check the activities and act accordingly.

Officials of the UP irrigation department had also carried out a survey in January and found the activities taking place on a major chunk behind the Kanawani village. “The land belongs to cultivators and they cannot come up with permanent constructions or non-designated activities other than cultivation. In many instances, we noticed that occupants also have got electricity connections. We also found that a stone crusher is installed but it was not found operational during the inspection,” NK Lamba, executive engineer, UP irrigation department, said.

“We found huge dumps of construction material on the flood plains and river water being used for washing the material. We have written to the police for registering FIRs against those responsible. However, the police have not lodged an FIR,” he said.

He also quoted a government order, saying the floodplains, without an embankment, will be under the jurisdiction of the irrigation department while places having embankment will be under the jurisdiction of the respective development authorities. “It is hard to believe that such activities are persisting without the knowledge of the departments concerned. The agencies keep moving the ball to the other and don’t act,” Rajendra Tyagi, a councillor, said.

Divisional commissioner Prabhat Kumar expressed concern about the protection of the floodplains. He is already carrying out ‘Nirmal Hindon’, a river rejuvenation initiative, intended to protect the river. “Authorities must ensure that activities against the land use are not permitted. The irrigation department is also responsible to ensure that such activities do not take place. The agencies must act in coordinated manner for remedy,” Kumar said.