In an alleged attempt to facilitate realtors in the region, District Forest Department of Gautam Budh Nagar has prepared a proposal seeking reduction of eco-sensitive zone in the vicinity of Noida’s Okhla Bird Sanctuary from 10-kilometre to one-kilometre radius.
This brazen attempt by the Forest Department is formulated neglecting the rampant construction of multi-storey building on the green belt of Okhla Bird Sanctuary. The move by the department will directly help over 40 real estate companies in resuming the construction in this region. It would be important to mention that, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) in March 15, 2011 had directed all the State and the Union Territories to declare 10-kilometre radius as eco-sensitive zones around the national parks and bird sanctuaries. Many States, including Uttar Pradesh, are yet to act on the said directive.
A senior official of Forest Department said that 13 big realty projects may be affected if one kilometre radius of the sanctuary is declared as an eco-sensitive zone. Overall, realty projects of 54 developers are located within 10-kilometre radius of the sanctuary. “As per the directions of State Government, the department has already convened couple of meetings over the issue and the proposal will soon be sent to the Central Government. Now it is up to Centre whether it approves the proposal or not,” said the official.
On the other hand, alleging a nexus between competent authorities and builders’ lobby, environmentalists have said the whole exercise is being done to protect the interests of construction companies ignoring the guidelines made by the Central Government that may drastically affect the fragile wildlife habitat in the bird sanctuary. “The State Government is trying to facilitate the real estate players. It is playing in to the hand of builders, who have no concern about the region’s ecology,” said Vikrant Tongad, an environmentalist.
Notably, a local environmentalist filed a petition on July 8 in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) demanding that the constructions around the bird sanctuary should be stopped to protect the wildlife habitat. The NGT issued a notice to Centre, the State Government and the Noida Authority, among others on July 11. On July 19, the green body directed all concerned authorities to submit replies on the matter by August 14, the next date of hearing in this case.