Okhla bird sanctuary case: respite likely for Noida home-buyers, developers

Developers and home buyers in Noida, who feared losing their investments because of the National Green Tribunal's order stopping all construction within 10 km radius of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, might get relief if the latest deliberations of the ministry of environment and forests and climate change (MoEFCC) get implemented.  The ministry is considering delineating the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around Okhla sanctuary, the zone where development activities are to be strongly restricted, in a way that is likely to resolve the problem for investors.

Over 70,000 flat buyers are affected by two orders of NGT, halting construction and prohibiting New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida) from giving completion certificates to completed projects. An estimated 20,000 buyers have not been able to take possession of their flats because of the second order.

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• Order of chaos

Though the ministry has not divulged details of what it proposes, officials said “delineating a 10 km radius as the eco-sensitive zone around the Okhla sanctuary does not make sense”. Recognising the extent of development that has been going on for years now within 10 kms of the sanctuary—in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi—the ministry thinks that the most feasible option is to consider areas around the sanctuary with similar wetland habitat as the sanctuary. This means that only areas with wetland characteristics will be demarcated as ESZ.

If the ministry goes ahead with this proposal, it would be a big relief to the developers and home buyers in Noida as all the 49 projects affected by this order are outside wetland area. What's more, since all these projects have got environmental clearance (EC), they can resume their work as soon as ESZ is notified.

According to the ministry officials, the delineation of the ESZ is flexible. The National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) in 2002 had decided that land falling within 10 km of the boundary of national parks and sanctuaries should be notified as ESZ. However, it revised its decision in March 2005 and said that delineation of eco-sensitive zones have to be site-specific where “specific” activities would be strongly “regulated” rather than “prohibited”. The MoEF notification of February, 2011, that specified guidelines for declaration of ESZ, further noted that many of the “existing protected areas have already undergone tremendous development in close vicinity to their boundaries.” Therefore, the task of “defining the extent of eco sensitive zones around protected areas has to be kept flexible and protected area specific,” the notification said.

NGT case

The order of the tribunal prohibiting development followed a petition filed before the central bench by Amit Kumar, a Noida resident, questioning construction work within 10 km radius of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. “Such constructions were being carried out illegally without obtaining the required approval from the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL),” said Gaurav Kumar Bansal, counsel of the applicant. “Since government showed little concern for environmental laws and failed to take care of the sanctuary, the applicant had to move court,” he said.

In September last year, NGT stopped construction activity within 10 km radius of the Okhla sanctuary in Noida. Later in October, Noida authority was further prevented from giving completion certificates to construction projects falling within the prescribed area by the tribunal. In the interim order of October, the NGT also said that “all constructions within 10 km radius of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary or within distance of eco-sensitive zone, as may be prescribed by the notification issued by Ministry of Environment and Forests, shall be subject to the decision of the NBWL”. The order noted that till the time the clearance of NBWL is obtained, the concerned authority shall not issue completion certificates to the projects.

In April 2014, NGT reiterated its previous order and directed MoEFCC and the Uttar Pradesh government to notify ESZ around the sanctuary.


Though NGT stopped all projects within a radius of 10 km from the sanctuary in Noida, it didn’t give any direction for projects in Delhi or Haryana. The bench has, however, asked the Delhi and the Haryana governments to submit proposals on notification of eco-sensitive zones.

Uttar Pradesh gets a say

In February this year, Uttar Pradesh (UP) submitted a proposal to the Union environment ministry, delineating100 m radius around the sanctuary as the eco-sensitive zone. Following submission by the state, the Wildlife Division of the ministry constituted a three member committee to visit the area and submit their observations. The team comprising of Shiv Pal Singh, joint director (wildlife) of MoEFCC, K K Singh, and divisional forest officer of the Gautam Buddh Nagar forest division and Nishith Saxena, divisional conservator of forest, Delhi, undertook a site visit on June 27 and submitted their report. Upon reviewing the report, the wild life division of MoEFCC has now asked the UP government to submit a revised proposal for delineating ESZ. Once such revision is received from the state, a notification will be issued by MoEFCC. “We are just waiting for the revised proposal from the UP government. We want to settle this issue quickly,” said a ministry official.
 

Judgement of the National Green Tribunal regarding illegal and unauthorized construction works undertaken within a radius of 10 kms. from the boundary of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, 30/05/2014