Concreting: Noida authority has to remove concrete around trees after apology | Noida News
Noida: In a step towards a greener city, Noida Authority removes concrete all around Trees within a week.
The move came days after Noida Authority CEO Lokesh M and his Greater Noida counterpart Ravi Kumar NG appeared before the National Green Tribunal on August 9 and apologised for not complying with the tribunal’s previous order asking them to refrain from filing a complaint against the Concretization from sidewalks and roadsides.
Environmentalist Vikrant Tongad, who filed the petition in 2022, said that interlocking tiles were being installed along the roadside in Alpha 2 in Greater Noida, which was a blatant violation of an interim NGT Ordinance of 23 March 2018 prohibiting the concreting of roadsides in cities.
A 2018 order by the Uttar Pradesh government also states that only permeable perforated bricks and fly ash bricks and interlocking tiles, bricks on the edge of pavements and granular underpasses can be used on roadsides and sidewalks, he said.
Tongad said when he complained to the CEO of Greater Noida, the work was stopped. But the problem, he noted, is more widespread.
In several parts of Noida and Greater Noida, pedestrian walkways have been concreted without leaving breathing space around the roots, due to which some trees have already died, he said. As per the guidelines, concreting should not be allowed in a 1.5-foot wide area on either side of a road.
However, in Greater Noida and Noida, the sidewalks – whether three or four metres wide – are paved with tiles. Beneath is a ten centimetre thick layer of cement that prevents rainwater from seeping into the ground.
Environmental activists say that pouring concrete around the roots is like slowly poisoning trees, as there is no way for water to seep away or for the deep roots to be aerated. This weakens the roots and causes the tree to fall over.
“Cementation prevents rainwater from seeping into the ground, which lowers the water table and also leads to flooding when it rains,” said Tongad, a founding member of the NGO Social Action for Forest & Environment.
During a hearing on the case in April, the CPCB, responding to it, had said that concreting of footpaths posed a threat to the environment. During the hearing on August 7, the NGT summoned the CEOs of Noida and Greater Noida Authority for their inaction despite repeated directions on the matter.
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