Rs 100 crore fine on Noida Authority: NGT rejects review petition

NOIDA: The NGT on Monday rejected the Noida Authority review petition against the green tribunal order directing the authority to pay a Rs 100 crore compensation for failing to prevent untreated sewage from flowing into the Kondli irrigation canal before it empties into the Yamuna river in Noida.
Sunil J Mathews, advocate representing petitioner Abhisht Kusum Gupta, said that the NGT fined Noida Authority Rs 100 crore and Delhi Jal Board Rs 50 crore on August 6. “Noida Authority filed a review petition against the NGT order. The NGT bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, chairperson; Justice Sudhir Agarwal, judicial member; and Dr A Senthil Vel, expert member; rejected the petition on Monday. The NGT asked the authority to move the apex court if it wants to,” he said.
The 20-km long Kondli drain originates from Kondli village in Delhi and enters Noida via Ghaziabad. The drain empties into the Yamuna in Sector 168.
The NGT, in its August order, said that of the group housing societies in Noida, only 76 out of 95 have sewage treatment plants (STPs). Others are yet to set up STPs, while 38 of the 76 societies (50%) with STPs are non-compliant.
Noida’s six operational STPs with a total capacity of 231 MLD are said to be compliant, but the result on the samples rebuts that claim if the correct standard is applied, the tribunal observed.