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Irrigation department flags LDA’s Lucknow Haat construction near Gomti riverbank
In an official letter dated June 11, 2026, accessed by HT, the irrigation department’s Lucknow Khand-2 division raised objections to construction activity near Shaheed Smarak Park on the right bank of the Gomti. The department said a joint inspection found that the LDA had undertaken construction of Lucknow Haat near the river’s berm area without obtaining the required departmental permission.
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The Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), which routinely cracks down on unauthorised constructions across the city, has itself come under scrutiny after the irrigation department flagged construction of Lucknow Haat near the Gomti riverbank close to Parivartan intersection without obtaining its permission.
In an official letter dated June 11, 2026, accessed by HT, the irrigation department’s Lucknow Khand-2 division raised objections to construction activity near Shaheed Smarak Park on the right bank of the Gomti. The department said a joint inspection found that the LDA had undertaken construction of Lucknow Haat near the river’s berm area without obtaining the required departmental permission.
When contacted by HT on Thursday, irrigation department executive engineer (Lucknow division) Mukesh Vaish confirmed that multiple notices had been issued to the LDA over the “illegal” construction of these commercial shops. Vaish also said the assistant engineer had issued a fresh notice. He further said the department could not issue an NOC for any commercial activity on the riverbank even in the future.
According to an LDA official, the authority gave the land to a private agency through its Request For Proposal (RFP) for a fixed time period. The agency has set up 13 kiosks by now along with some kids’ area and other amusement activities for which the LDA will charge the agency a specified amount of money.
The irrigation department asked the LDA not to continue the construction without securing the requisite permission. It also warned that carrying out work on canal land without permission or obstructing the flow of a canal could attract penal action under the Northern India Canal and Drainage Act, 1873, and provisions cited in the letter under Sections 430 to 432 of the Indian Penal Code.
LDA chief engineer unaware of own project
The issue also raises questions about the LDA’s internal monitoring and coordination. When HT contacted the LDA chief engineer Manvendra Singh about the construction, he said he was unaware of the matter. The chief engineer’s lack of awareness raises questions over how construction activity at an LDA project could take place at a site flagged by another government department without the authority’s engineering wing being aware of it. It also raises questions over the monitoring mechanism within the authority for projects being executed under its jurisdiction.
