All 132 ground floor flats in Grand Omaxe encroached on common area, finds authority survey

The issue of encroachments within the residential society came to the fore this August after a video of politician and society resident Shrikant Tyagi allegedly abusing and assaulting a woman resident went viral on social media.

Residents of Grand Omaxe society in Sector 93B may see bulldozers in action in front of their flats on Friday as the Noida authority’s survey on Wednesday has found that nearly all 132 ground floor flats in the society have encroached on common area land one way or another.

Residents of nearly all 132 ground floor flats in Grand Omaxe have resorted to similar encroachments and action will be taken against all of them, Noida authority officials said. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The issue of encroachments within the residential society came to the fore this August after a video of politician and society resident Shrikant Tyagi allegedly abusing and assaulting a woman resident went viral on social media. The woman in her complaint to police claimed that she was assaulted and abused after she objected to him putting up palm trees in the common lawn in front of his flat. Tyagi was later arrested from Meerut, where he had fled fearing arrest

The authority officials later said Tyagi had made several encroachments, including planting trees in the common area as well as construction of a shed and boundary wall, all of which were demolished by the Noida authority.

However, Tyagi is not only resident to make such encroachments in Grand Omaxe, the recent authority survey has found. In fact, residents of nearly all 132 ground floor flats have resorted to similar encroachments and action will be taken against all of them, said authority officials.

The authority teams are getting ready to demolish these encroached portions from Friday, after the 48 hour window given to residents to remove encroachments on their own, expires.

“The survey and demarcation have been done and all residents have been informed about the area that they need to vacate. Accordingly, action will begin from Friday,” said Praveen Mishra, additional chief executive officer, Noida authority.

“There are 22 towers in the society, with six flats on the ground floor in each tower. Most of the 132 flats on the ground floor that were surveyed on Wednesday were found to have covered up the common areas with trees, potted plants or boundary walls and sheds. Most of these encroachments are minor in nature and can be easily removed,” said Ishtiyaq Ahmed, chief architect and town planner, Noida authority.

He added that the areas within the society premises were compared to the approved maps when the occupancy certificates (OC) were given. The higher floors were not surveyed and officials said these may be checked at a later stage.

Despite multiple attempts, none of the apartment owners’ association members were available for comment on the issue. However, residents said a group of ground floor residents is trying get a stay on any authority action. None of the residents has vacated any of the areas they encroached on till Thursday evening.

“We have come to know that the affected residents have hired a lawyer and are trying to get a stay on the authority action. While the authority claims that these encroached areas are not part of the approved map (when the OC was given), residents claim that these areas were sold to them by the builder, according to the original maps. Residents want this discrepancy between the builder and the authority to be resolved before any action is taken,” said a resident, asking not to be named.

The society’s board of members are also due to be re-elected soon and an interim BOM is in place currently.