Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Saturday ordered a halt to the work on a housing project of a private builder on a wetland, home to migratory birds, in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida.
The Ministry also issued a showcause notice to the builder who bought hundreds of acres of wetlands from Uttar Pradesh government.
“The Minister has directed issuance of an order to stop work on a wetland housing project in Greater Noida's Dadri. A notice has also been issued under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act," a Ministry source said.
Following reports of the sale of wetlands by Uttar Pradesh governnment to the private builder, a concerned Natarajan had sent a fact-finding team to Greater Noida on January 20.
She had said if the team found the project illegal, it would be stopped. Sources said the wetlands are visited by migratory birds from Europe and Siberia.