During the monsoon in 2023, between July 12 and 15, the river rose to an all-time high and flooded several areas in the national capital as well as Noida — including villages housing these farmhouses. The owners of 50 properties then filed a petition before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) last year seeking compensation for damages caused by the floods. The District Magistrate (DM) of Gautam Buddha Nagar has contested this.

Submitting a report to the NGT against the petitioners, DM Manish Kumar Verma said all 50 properties are farmhouses illegally constructed on the floodplain. In their plea, the petitioners claimed polluted water from the river mixed with sewage, hazardous chemical effluents and sludge entered their houses and caused loss to them. According to the petitioners, it was not a natural calamity but a man-made disaster resulting from the shrinkage of the river channel due to deposit of silt, faulty flood control regulations and not raising the bund between the villages and the river. They further said the authorities failed to remove the sludge and dry silt after the flood water receded, resulting in dust pollution and creating health hazards.

In this background, the applicants demanded compensation on the ‘No Fault Liability’ principle. They placed reliance on an NGT order of August 2016, where compensation was awarded for damage caused during the floods in Srinagar, in Uttarakhand, in 2013.

The properties of the applicants are located in Dostpur Mangrauli Khadar, Chak Mangrola, Assadullapur, Chhaprauli Khadar, Nangli Nangla, Nagli Bahrampur and Kidawali villages.

When The Indian Express visited the area, it found a proper approach road with streetlights and CCTVs, 500 m from the current flow of the river, to the farmhouses. There were luxury vehicles parked outside the premises’ expensive gates while security guards were deployed to stop “unwanted people” from entering the area.

The DM, in his report, said: “… The farmhouses of the petitioners have been built in the submerged area of ​​the (above)-mentioned villages… Officials visited the flood-affected villages and provided as much assistance as possible to people and animals. trapped in the flood were rescued.” He also attached photos of all 50 structures.

In its last hearing on May 21 in the matter, the NGT said while it is not disputed that the applicants are owners of the farmlands, a plea has been taken that the nature of their construction is not permanent but nothing has been enclosed along with the response to substantiate this.

Now, the Tribunal has formed a four-member committee comprising officials of the CPCB, CPWD, Noida Authority and District Magistrate to ascertain the correct position of the nature of construction — whether it is permanent or temporary and if due permission was taken to raise the structures.

However, the petitioners said they have documents to prove the construction is legal.

A 52-year-old businessman, one of the petitioners, who did not wish to be named, claimed: “The fact is that the floodplain has not been demarcated till date in Noida — there is another matter going on in the NGT in this regard — so how can they say the construction is illegal? It is the same department that gave me permission to buy land and build on it in 2005. I have the registry papers. I have some porta cabins, where I do farming. Now you are raising fingers at us… If you want to take my land, take it, but where is the law?”

The man is originally a resident of Uttarakhand and runs hotels there. “There are thousands like me. Because we have sought compensation from the government, they are filing reports against us. If you go by such conjectures, the whole of Noida will come under the floodplain because it is situated at a much lower level than its adjoining areas. I am around 1 km from the Yamuna and these are temporary structures,” added the businessman.

Residents of the villages, however, said most farmhouse owners are “outsiders”.

“The real victims of the flood are farmers, whose hundreds of acres of land were destroyed but they have not received any compensation. A few weeks after the flood, a survey was done but we did not hear anything after that,” said Kalu Ram Pradhan (72), a resident of Dostpur Mangrauli.

“Kisan NGT tak kahan pahuch sakta hai (How can a farmer go all the way to the NGT?) At that time, 15 bighas of my land was ruined. I had sown paddy and vegetables. The land was given on rent. But nothing was received from the administration as compensation. These were our lands, where farmhouses have been built, sold at throwaway prices…,” said 55-year-old Chhatrapal Singh, a farmer and resident of the same village.