Pune: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to identify residential structures falling within the blue flood line of the Indrayani river at Moi Phata in Chikhali, and to demolish those found within the flood line within three months.The order dated Aug 14 concerns 20 residential structures along Ram Zara nullah, located around 2.5-3km from River Villa society, where PCMC demolished 36 bungalows in May 2025 following an earlier NGT order for the same reason.A bench of judicial member Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Dr Sujit Kumar Bajpayee directed PCMC to carry out the identification exercise in consultation with the irrigation department and take action against structures found within the blue line, after giving the affected occupants an opportunity to be heard.“PCMC shall ensure that all such construction that is found to lie within blue line of the Indrayani river shall be identified in tandem with the irrigation department and such construction would be demolished within a period of three months from the date of uploading of this order belonging to the respondents in accordance with law, after giving opportunity of hearing to the affected persons,” the bench said in its order passed on Thursday.The structures were flagged as falling within the blue and red flood lines of the Indrayani river in a joint committee report submitted to the tribunal earlier this year in a case filed by Gopal Kachave. The report also stated that the Ram Zara nullah itself falls within the river’s blue and red flood lines.In its earlier submission, PCMC had said the 20 structures, constructed between Jan and Nov 2022, did not have the required permissions from its building permission department. The tribunal noted that four unauthorised structures measuring 441 sq m had been identified for demolition, but despite the demolition, occupants allegedly went on to carry out further construction without PCMC permission.The applicants, however, raised concerns over the flood line demarcation and referred to govt circulars regarding fresh surveys to redraw boundaries. The tribunal said any change in the blue line following a fresh survey should also be taken into consideration by the PCMC and irrigation department.“In case any change is effected in the blue line, even that may be taken into consideration by PCMC as well as the irrigation department, and if any of the constructions are found to be excluded, accordingly those areas may be protected. But the rest of the constructions, if any, which may fall in the blue line of the Indrayani river, would have to be demolished,” the bench observed.The tribunal also directed PCMC to hear the occupants before taking action, noting that the civic body had allotted house numbers to the structures and was collecting property tax from them. The bench also noted that MSEDCL had provided electricity connections and metered billing to the premises.Lawyer RB Mahabal, who represented the owners of the 20 structures, said only seven structures were affected even as per the earlier drawings. “The revised map mentioned in the PCMC’s draft development plan (DP) was also discussed, and the bench directed the civic body to examine it as well,” he told TOI.The occupants had earlier told TOI in June that they were unaware at the time of purchasing the land that construction was prohibited and that the area fell within the flood line zone.While directing action against structures falling within the blue line, the tribunal also made broader observations on flood line regulations and urban development along rivers. The bench observed that human settlements have historically developed along rivers and that the blue and red line concepts were introduced primarily as safety measures to protect people from sudden floods and the need for emergency evacuation.“Last year, so many cities all over the country were heavily flooded with floodwaters flowing over main roads, streets and thoroughfares,” the bench further observed, adding that if floodwater were to become the sole basis for defining blue and red lines, “all those cities have to be demolished completely, which cannot be even contemplated.”The tribunal noted that several cities across the country have rivers flowing through their centres, with people residing on both banks.
