The notice was issued to the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change, the state forest department, Ghaziabad's district magistrate, the UP Housing Board, Ghaziabad Development Authority, Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) and the state Environment Impact Assessing Authority. All have been asked to file their replies by July 15.

The green court's notice came in the wake of a petition filed by a city-based environmentalist in May following a TOI report in January that highlighted how the 48 acres of land, notified as bird sanctuary some 20 years ago, in the Hindon barrage area of Vasundhara was allegedly sold to private builders.

The petitioner, Sushil Raghav, said, "The land in question originally belonged to Arthala gram sabha but in 1990, it was handed over to the GMC. Since the area forms a part of Arthala lake and was home to many migratory birds for ages, in 1993-94, then district magistrate notified it as a bird sanctuary, making the district forest department its custodian in 1995."

After sustained inquiry, Raghav said, the GMC, which was originally the custodian of the land till it was converted into a bird sanctuary, passed it over to the Housing Board, which in turn sold it off to private builders.

Rahul Chowdhary, the petitioner's counsel, added, "It is a fact that the land was sold to two private builders, who in turn proceeded to fence it but had to back off after an outcry. Since there is still a lot of ambiguity in the matter, we sought to get it clarified in the NGT.

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When contacted, Joga Singh, district forest officer, said, "After hue and cry, two private builders in question contested the case at the housing board, but present dispensation in the Housing Board dismissed their case. The matter, as of now, has two parties, the forest department and the Housing Board, and with the matter coming up in the NGT, it would now be sorted out for once and all."