Realty boom bane of Noida water table? (Hindustan Times 27 August 2012)

The emergence of Noida and Greater Noida as real estate destinations has fuelled a surge in water guzzling construction activities in these cities. Experts say, on an average, a developer extracts 2 lakh litres of water a day. With more than 200 big-ticket projects coming up in Noida and

Greater Noida, the impact on the region's water table is anybody's guess.

Members of Noida Greens, an NGO, which conducted a survey on groundwater depletion in the twin cities, found that developers, to lay foundation for high-rises, extract water and dump it into drains, as Noida's soil is loamy and moist.

In 2004, the water table of Gautam Budh Nagar district (consisting Noida and Greater Noida areas) was bracketed in the 'safe' category.

Later, in 2009, it slipped into 'semi-critical' zone.

At this rate, in the next three years, it will slip into 'critical' zone, say experts of Jamia Mila engineering department.

No developers have taken no-objection certificates from the CGWA for de-watering plots. Builders say they would recycle this water. "No builder in the district has got the permission to dump groundwater into drains," said Vikrant Tongad of Noida Greens, an NGO. 

"The district magistrate is responsible for preventing builders from exploiting groundwater," said VA Devpujari, the chief architect and town planner, Noida authority. District magistrate MKS Sundaram was unavailable for comments. 

Industries fail to do their  bit
Although Noida authority's building bylaw makes it mandatory for industrial units in the city to set up rainwater harvesting projects in their premises, only 76 out of 7,000 units have so far complied with the rule.

Environmentalists are up in arms as the authorities have done precious little to promote conservation of groundwater. But the authorities are putting up a brave front, saying that all's well.

"We do not keep any record of how many people follow the rule. If a builder failed to adhere to the prescribed norms, we do not issue completion certificate to his building," said Devpujari.

The statements by the officials fail to cloak their lackadaisical attitude in dealing with the impending danger.

According to Noida's building bylaw, a building with a built-up area of 100 sqm should have a water harvesting project. But the district headquarters building built on an area of about 2,000 sqm does not have a rainwater harvesting project.

"Noida's groundwater is dipping at an alarming level. In a matter of few years, it will be worse than in Gurgaon, where water table dips at the rate of 1.2m a year. With construction activity gaining momentum in Greater Noida – at present water table in the industrial township goes down by 20cm a year – water will be a scare resource in the region," said an official of Noida Greens.

Even industrialists are unaware of the law. "Ground water conservation is almost zilch in Noida. We are all set to file a public interest litigation in national green tribunal (NGT) to save our natural resources because builders, industrialists and authorities are not concerned," said Vikrant Tongad of Noida Greens.

The UP government, on April 25, 2006, had ordered that all industrial/institutional /commercial/residential projects with a plot area of 300 sqm should set up rainwater harvesting projects.

But the district administration is yet to enforce the government order.

Later, the state government revised its order and made it mandatory for all residential projects with 200sqm built-up area to establish harvesting pits. Subsequently, to promote conservation, Noida and Greater Noida authorities further reduced the built-up area to 100sqm. But these agencies never enforced the rule.

Noida industrialists dismiss the NGO's claim.