Residents of flats in 20 high-rises, once sold for their breathtaking view of the Ganga, suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of law - that is within the flood protection wall on the riverbed.
The reality struck hard after Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) identified those 20 buildings to be posing threat to the ecology of the river.
Occupants of 23 buildings on the banks of the Ganga in Patna are already fighting vigilance cases in the Patna municipal commissioner's court.
A detailed report in this regard is expected to be submitted to urban development and housing department this week. Recently, water overflowing from the Ganga entered a few multi-storeyed apartments on the riverbank, the urban development department on August 27 had formed a committee headed by the municipal commissioner to conduct a fresh inquiry into irregularities in construction of high-rises north of flood protection wall in the city.
A senior PMC official said: "We have identified 20 apartments constructed inside the flood protection wall of Patna against the 23 apartments found inside the wall under the PMC's jurisdiction till 2014. But new rural areas have recently been added in the PMC jurisdiction, including Digha, Kurji and Mainpura. We have identified 20 buildings built inside the flood protection wall."
Six gram panchayats, Nakta Diara, Badalpura, Sabazpura, Digha, Kurji (including Patliputra colony) and Mainpura, have recently been included in the PMC's jurisdiction.
Senior PMC officials said opinion legal might be sought on initiating action against the buildings on the Ganga riverbed located in the rural areas recently included in the PMC's jurisdiction.
"The court had ordered the inclusion of these gram panchayats in PMC in 2014 and the process is still on, whereas the Bihar building byelaws were notified in January last year. Thus, we may take legal opinion on taking action on these buildings," said the official.
A hearing on construction of multi-storeyed apartments on the Ganga riverbed will be held in the eastern zone of National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday. In September, 2015, the NGT's eastern zonal bench, Calcutta, had issued a notice to PMC to showcause builders concerned as to why these buildings should not be demolished as they have been built in violation of environmental norms. The NGT, in its order on September 22, 2014, had categorically stated that no building should be constructed inside the flood protection wall.
The urban development and housing department has put fresh curbs on building construction activities on the Ganga's dry riverbed, which mandate no new construction up to 200m beyond the Ganga flood protection wall.
The NGT has recently made the State-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) a party in this case. A senior SEIAA member told The Telegraph, preferring anonymity, said there were a number of buildings constructed illegally on the dry riverbed of the Ganga in Patna.
"Many buildings have been constructed illegally on the Ganga riverbed by strongmen and developers. The soft soil of the bed is unfit for construction," said the SEIAA member.
According to a Patna Regional Development Authority (merged with PMC in 2006) against a 1996 order, there is a ban on building highrises beyond the 25-km-long Ganga flood protection wall, which separates the city from the riverbank. In February 2012, the PMC had asked builders of apartments on the Ganga's dry riverbed on Patna's northern fringes to stop sale of flats.
Vigilance inquiry was initiated on nine such buildings. Moreover, showcause notices were served on owners of 30 such apartments. A ban is also in effect on the registry of the identified under-construction apartments.
In July, 2013, the high court ordered a blanket ban on the construction of all apartments on the dry riverbed.
