The Noida Authority has filed a first information report (FIR) against Amrapali Sapphire, a residential housing society, for alleged violations of the Water Act, Air Act and solid waste management rules, and imposed a ₹73 lakh penalty after an inspection found its sewage treatment plant (STP) to be non-functional, officials have said.

This step followed a site inspection on Saturday by the Authority’s water works department team which found that the sewage treatment plant (STP) inside the housing complex was dysfunctional, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

“We found during inspection that the STP was not operational inside the campus against the laid down norms. We have filed FIR under the provisions of the Water Act-1974, Air Act-1974 and imposed a penalty for violating the waste management rules-2016/2020,” RP Singh, general manager and head of water works department at Noida authority told HT on Sunday.

“The dumping of untreated wastewater is also an unlawful activity as per the Article 272 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).”

Singh said a penalty of ₹73 lakh was imposed on Amrapali Sapphire Apartment Owners Association (AOA), which is responsible to treat the wastewater before it is dumped into the storm water drains. “This penalty has been imposed as we intensified our drive to prevent dumping of the untreated waste into drains.”

According to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directions, these societies are supposed to set up treatment plants to treat the waste and then discharge the same into drains.

In response, a member of the AOA that runs the society, Ajay Shukla, said, “The Noida authority water works team came for inspection on Saturday, and took action. The Authority must understand that the NBCC that built the complex is yet to hand over the facilities properly.”

The Authority has been carrying out the site inspections inside the housing societies since August 3, 2022 when the NGT, during a case hearing, asked it not to dump untreated water into drains which finally empty into the Yamuna River.

Since then, the Authority has been working on the plan to improve the quality of treated wastewater to mitigate pollution in Yamuna, said officials. “Our drive continues and we will impose a penalty and also file a criminal case as per the law,” Singh added.