All completion certificates offered by Noida Authority to builders within 10 kms of Okhla Bird Sanctuary now subject to NGT's final judgment

NOIDA: The National Green Tribunal, on Wednesday has asked the Noida authority to provide a list of all those builders with projects within 10 kilometers of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, to whom completion certificates have been issued. It has also asked the Noida authority to announce to all those builders who have already procured completion that the validation of the certification is still subject to the Tribunal's final judgment which is awaited on the issue.

"The court has also asked the Noida local body to inform the Tribunal whether the completion certificates include a clause that the certificates being offered to the builders is subject to the final decision by the green court on the matter of the eco sensitive zone around the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. Any new certificates to be issued by the Authority to the builders must include the clause," Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, who is one of the petitioners who challenged the Okhla Bird Sanctuary eco-sensitive zone limit, said.

The Green Court is presently hearing on a regular basis an appeal which has challenged the reduction of the eco-sensitive zone around the Okhla Bird Sanctuary on the Noida side to just 100 metres.

The 100 meter limit was finalised by the UP State government and approved by the Ministry of Environment and Forests earlier this year. Soon after, the limit was challenged in the Green Court, environmental lawyers and green enthusiasts of Noida challenged the decision at the Tribunal.

The next date of hearing of the case is December 23.