Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that her ministry had received a complaint regarding reclamation of wetland habitats in Bil Akbarpur by Ansal Private Limited and had sent a central team to verify the complaint.
The team found that the sale of the wetland area by the state government violated the green clearance condition that no wetland should be infringed during construction and any wetland coming in the project area should be suitably rejuvenated and conserved.
The clearance to the project was granted by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority of UP.
Mail Today had first reported the spotting of blackbucks, blue bulls, chinkara and four-horned antelopes by wildlife enthusiasts.
'This wetland harbours a good concentration of avian fauna in terms of biodiversity and density and is considered to be a viable avian habitat,' Natarajan said.
She, however, clarified that there was no corroborative evidence of the presence of 200 endangered species of birds in the area. According to a survey conducted by the UP government in 2009, Bil Akbarpur has been identified as an important wetland, covering 4 hectares.
Natarajan told the House that a show cause notice was issued to the builder under Section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to stop any construction, earth filling or land reclamation work in the vicinity of wetland. 'The entire area has been concretised and there is nothing left. Read the full report here.
Source: by Akash Vashishtha, Daily Mail.
