80% construction along Yamuna floodplain eligible for demolition

AGRA: Coming down heavily on the Agra authorities over constructions in the

Yamuna flood plain zone

, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday said around 80% of constructions near Yamuna are in the restricted area and are eligible for demolition.

It directed the authorities to file their replies, stating what corrective measures they would take in this regard. The tribunal further stated that the installation of pillars in the Yamuna to demarcate flood plain zone was not proper and done with a ‘mala fide’ intention. It asked the departments concerned to inform the tribunal whether they would do the demarcation properly or not.

The tribunal made these observation while going through the report submitted by the local commissioner

Mukesh Kumar Gupta

, who had been earlier appointed to inspect constructions in the Yamuna flood plain zone.

During his two-day visit to Agra on September 23-24, local commissioner Mukesh Kumar Gupta inspected around 18 establishments built near Yamuna. Prior to that Gupta had visited Agra on August 12 and conducted a spot inspection to find out the correct position of flood plains and the distances of the various real estate projects in the city. In the report, Gupta had highlighted major discrepancies in the Yamuna flood plain zone and in the city’s sewage treatment system. He however had given clean chit to a few projects.

Notably, real estate developers, whose projects are built close to Yamuna river and on which the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had put a ban on sale and purchase of flats last year, had earlier requested the court to allow them to resume commercial activities. They had stated that they had incurred huge debts and also facing ire of consumers.