Gasping For Life: 10 Years On, 10k-crore Hindon Riverfront Project Yet To Take Off | Noida News – Times of India


NOIDA: Approved in 2013, the Noida Authority’s Rs 10,000-crore Hindon riverfront project, which proposed to replicate Gujarat’s Sabarmati development plan, to protect the 3,781 hectares of floodplains in the district is yet to see the light of day.
Under the ambitious project, the Authority proposed to acquire the nearly 3,000 hectares of floodplains encroached upon by farmers and landowners and develop forested areas, golf courses, polo grounds and parks. In 2016, a seven-member team even visited Gujarat to study the Sabarmati riverfront model but since then the project has not moved ahead.

hindon

Poisoned by tonnes of sewage, industrial and domestic effluents, the Hindon flows through a black, frothy stream with exceptionally high levels of pollution. A recent state government report states that 55 drains carry 944 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage into the river — of this, 231 MLD is untreated.
Earlier this week, the green tribunal directed the member secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to initiate criminal prosecution against officers in charge of municipal corporations and municipal bodies in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Baghpat and Ghaziabad and the chief executive officers of Noida and Greater Noida authorities for failing to check discharge of sewage into the Hindon despite its orders passed over several years. The petition was filed by Abhisht Kusum Gupta in the NGT.
A former Noida Authority official, who was a senior manager in the civil department before being transferred to the irrigation department in Lucknow last year, said the riverfront project was cleared by the then CEO in May 2013. “But after the government changed in 2017 and a subsequent CBI probe was launched into the Gomti riverfront development project for alleged Rs 1,600 crore irregularities, the Authority officials stopped taking interest in this project. Subsequent approvals also did not come by.”
The official said as the senior manager he was involved in the project in 2017 and had submitted a few recommendations — that the Hindon floodplain should be first defined, and then new embankments raised on both banks.
“I had also proposed to purchase 2,971 hectares of the river’s floodplain and rehabilitate villagers so that a forested area could be developed along the river. A six-lane road over the bund was also proposed to connect NH 24 with Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway. But the draft was not approved over budgetary constraints,” the senior official said.
Of the 2,971 hectares, 135 hectares were then with the irrigation department and another 300 hectares with the land management committee.
According to a senior Noida official, in 2016, the Authority had aimed to replicate the Sabarmati riverfront model to rejuvenate the 27-km stretch of the Hindon in its jurisdiction. The authority had then decided to rope in the planners and firm behind the Gujarat project.
“A consultant had begun a survey for the proposed project and was expected to submit a detailed project report within a year. However, it did not get the required approvals from the other departments. The objective of the riverfront development project was to deal with encroachment and ensure a clean Hindon. Once developed, the corridor could have offered picnic spots and other entertainment zones for the public,” the official said.
Environmentalists, however, say a riverfront may not be exactly the answer to all Hindon’s problems. The government and local authorities have failed to stop villages and industries from releasing their waste into the river.
“It is extremely important to factor in the ecological needs of a river. Any unmindful developmental activity planned without consulting experts, who have a deeper understanding of a riverine ecosystem, could be a recipe for disaster,” Pranab J Patar, an environmentalist, said.





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