National Green Tribunal issues notices to Uttar Pradesh government and officials over alleged canal and forest destruction in Agra

The National Green Tribunal has issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and 11 officials in connection with a petition alleging the destruction of canals and protected forests for urbanisation and road construction in Agra.

The matter was heard by a bench comprising NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Srivastava and Expert Member Dr Afroz Ahmad. The tribunal sought responses from the state government and the respondents ahead of the next hearing scheduled for January 4, 2027.

The petition was filed by advocate Ajay Pratap Singh, who claimed that the Sikandra Rajbaha (canal) and its adjoining protected forest have been destroyed due to urbanisation. According to the petition, the Sikandra Rajbaha is documented in the Agra Gazetteers of 1905 and 1965. The petitioner stated that the canal has been destroyed at village Lakhanpur on Sikandra Site C to construct a road, and that the canal and its protected forest leading from Sikandra Site C to Bhagwan Talkies have been encroached upon. The petition further noted that the canal flows from Bhagwan Talkies towards Sultanganj ki Pulia and Langre ki Chowki, eventually draining into the Yamuna River behind Water Works as a drain.

The petitioner also submitted GPS-tagged photographs and satellite images to the tribunal, stating that road construction is underway within the protected forest area of the Terminal Rajbaha, also known as the Bichpuri-Rohta canal, which was notified as a protected area by the Uttar Pradesh government on October 23, 1954.

The respondents named in the proceedings include the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, the Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the Principal Secretary of Irrigation, the Principal Secretary of Urban Development, the Principal Secretary of Rural Development, the District Magistrate of Agra, the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, the Regional Officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, the Municipal Commissioner, the Chairman of the Agra Development Authority, and the Chairman of the Taj Trapezium Zone Authority.

In a related development in September, the Irrigation Department issued notices to approximately 250 families in Bapu Nagar, Khandari area, declaring their residential properties as encroachments on canal land following NGT directions.