Ghaziabad: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to initiate proceedings against the UP Housing Board Commissioner for not appearing before the Tribunal during a hearing. Encroachment Of Green Belts In Vasundhara
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Sudhir Aggarwal and expert member Afrooz Ahmed had said in its order in August this year, “An officer of the rank of Housing Commissioner, we expect, is already engaged in official duties every day. But this does not mean that compliance with the order of the tribunal will not be part of the performance of official duty or is less important than other duties, especially when non-compliance with the order of the tribunal is a provision of national law. 26 is an offence. Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
According to its provisions, failure to comply with the NGT's order is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to Rs 10 crore. The Green Panel has demanded that Compliance Report within two months.
A housing board official told TOI that during the April 2024 hearing, the housing board commissioner had submitted a plea to the NGT for exemption from personal appearance, but the court “did not find any justification for the exemption”.
Balkar Singh, who took over as UP Housing Board Commissioner in March this year, was not available for comment.
A petition filed in 2022 by Amit Kishore, a resident of Vasundhara, claimed that an RTI query revealed that the township has 5,50,545 square meters of green belt area, including 210 parks. But she could not provide data on encroachment on these zones. Kishore filed a petition before the NGT stating that the kiosks are located on green belts between the residential sectors of Vasundhara and are mostly used as vending zones.
Kishore claimed that 62 kiosks are operating from green belts, many of them in Sector 15 and Atal Chowk.
“Before the NGT gave any direction, the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation removed these booths. However, there was a lack of coordination between GMC and Housing Board officials on encroachment of green belts. Subsequently, in April , the NGT asked the DM, municipal commissioner, and housing board commissioner to appear in person,” Kishore said.
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