Prayagraj/Noida: The Allahabad high court has set aside an order of Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate which directed farmers to obtain 'no objection certificate' for selling their agricultural land in the floodplain zone of Yamuna and Hindon river in Noida and Greater Noida. Disposing a bunch of writ petitions filed by Suresh Chand and others, a bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar said the order was not in sync with the Disaster Management Act and hence the NOC restriction was “found to be illegal”. In its Aug 22 order, the court observed, “Noida authorities cannot cover their mistakes by imposing conditions which have no rationale with the (Disaster Management) Act under which such conditions are imposed.
” “As far as reasonable restrictions are concerned, to mitigate any kind of future disaster and loss of human life and property it is imperative to lay down reasonable restrictions and to check on illegal/unauthorized constructions coming up in floodplain zones,” it added. “The Disaster Management Act, 2005, does not empower the district magistrate to restrict property transfers in the floodplain zones of the Hindon and Yamuna rivers. It would be arbitrary and discriminatory to impose restrictions on the sale and purchase of agricultural land owned by farmers,” the order stated.
The court emphasised that the Noida Authority is “nobody” to issue NOCs to farmers and said every citizen has the right to acquire, sell, and d.