Noida arrests 38 for pollution violations

NOIDA: Cracking down on pollution norms violators, the district administration on Saturday arrested 38 people, including a developer, and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on two builders in Noida and Greater Noida for various environmental violations. The action was taken in the wake of the National Green Tribunal’s directives “to tackle pollution just like crime”.
The Greater Noida Authority also penalised its waste management contractor for Rs 5 lakh for dumping waste in the open and burning garbage at two of its disposal sites.
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Officials said the arrests in the twin cities were made under the CrPC (Section 151) and provisions of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986, following an inspection by administrative and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board officials. Both charges are bailable. Those taken into custody included the developer of Saviour Green Arch housing society in Greater Noida (West).
“We found gross negligence by the Green Arch builder. The developer was carrying out construction activity, despite a ban on the same till November 5, and that too, without taking basic precautions like water sprinkling,” said Rajeev Rai, subdivisional magistrate, Dadri. “We have arrested the developer and sealed the site.”
Similarly, from Wave City Centre mall in Sector 32, five people were arrested. One person was arrested for constructing a tower along the main Nithari Road in Sector 40, and seven others, including a manager and three engineers, were arrested from the construction site of Sikka Kamna Green, a housing society in Sector 79. Two ready mixed concrete (RMC) plants were also shut down in the district, officials said.
The team also imposed penalty of Rs 5 lakh each on developers of Migsun Wynn and Migsun Vilaasa properties in Sector Eta 2 in Greater Noida, where construction work was going on. Four construction workers were also arrested from these two sites. “However, at several places the builders did not cooperate during inspection, and eventually police help had to be taken,” Anil Singh, regional officer, UPPCB-Noida, told TOI.
The Greater Noida Authority also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on its contractor after it was found to be dumping waste in the open. “The contractor will ensure that all waste disposal from across the city happens at one place only and is not dumped on vacant plots. If this is not done, more penalty will be imposed,” said Narendra Bhooshan, CEO, Greater Noida Authority.