Techie death: Developer says barricades removed in 2021 after Noida Authority's objection to ads

Noida, Jan 28 (PTI) The owner of the Noida Sector 150 plot where a techie died has informed a local court that the site had earlier been barricaded, but the Noida Authority asked for the removal of barricades carrying advertisements in July 2021, an official said.

The Authority also imposed a penalty of Rs six lakh for the allegedly illegal advertising, according to the owner's submission.

The details emerged during the hearing of the case in the court of chief judicial magistrate in Surajpur, Greater Noida, on Tuesday.

The court denied the bail applications of the arrestees in the case and extended their judicial remand.

The court will hold the next hearing on Thursday, an official said.

According to the official, the developer informed the court that the removal of barricades was done following a ban imposed on the Noida Sports City project in Sector 150 in January 2021.

The counsel for Wiztown Planners said the plot had been barricaded prior to July 2021, but the authority directed the company to remove barricades displaying advertisements of its 'Artham' project.

The developer has also stated that it had flagged serious safety concerns to the Noida Authority much before the fatal accident.

In a letter dated March 14, 2022, addressed to the chief executive officer of the Noida Authority, Wiztown warned that the collapse of sewer and main drain lines maintained by the Authority had resulted in continuous flow of sewage and drain water into its plot, flooding the basement and posing a serious accident risk, it submitted before the court.

The company cautioned the administration that the adjoining road was sinking due to soil erosion and water pressure, and that even the barricading at the site was collapsing. It urged the authority to urgently restore damaged sewer lines and pump out accumulated water to prevent a mishap, according to its submission.

The plot, initially owned by Lotus Greens, officials said, had been transferred to Wiztown Planners in 2019-20 with the approval of the Noida Authority.

Responding to Wiztown's claims, a senior Noida Authority official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the action against the Artham project was limited to stopping illegal advertisements.

"The authority never asked the developer to compromise on safety measures. Plain barricades could have been installed without advertisements," the official said.

The issue has come under sharp focus following the death of software engineer Yuvraj Mehta, who drowned after his car fell into a waterlogged pit near a construction site in Sector 150 on the intervening night of January 16 and 17.

The incident triggered public outrage, protests by locals and allegations of negligence against developers and the Noida Authority.

Police have so far arrested Abhay Kumar, director of MZ Wiztown Planners, and two associates of real estate firm Lotus Greens, Ravi Bansal and Sachin Karanwal, in connection with the case.

An FIR has been registered under sections including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death by negligence, while a separate case has also been lodged against officials of the two firms for alleged violations of environmental norms.

A special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government has also probed the matter.

Earlier, it had emerged that the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department had also flagged the need to construct head regulators in Sector 150 to flush out accumulated rainwater and drainage into the Hindon river.

A 2023 communication reiterated that budgetary provisions had been made for the project, but it was never implemented. PTI KIS PRK PRK