Around 11.7 hectares near Noida airport cleared of encroachments

Around 11

Around 11.7 hectares of land, which was encroached upon by builders, was cleared of all encroachments by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) on Tuesday, officials said.

The land measuring around 11.7 hectares, falls in Tappal area of Aligarh district along the Yamuna Expressway, bordering Jewar. Several constructions, including offices, were being carried out on the land illegally, said officials. (HT Photo)

They said the encroachments had come up on land in the Tappal area, around five kilometres from the upcoming greenfield Noida international airport, in Jewar. The estimated cost of the land that was reclaimed on Tuesday is ₹236 crore, said Yeida officials.

In a statement, Yeida said encroachers had occupied the land measuring around 11.7 hectares, which falls in Tappal area of Aligarh district along the expressway, bordering Jewar. Several constructions, including offices, were being carried out on the land illegally, the Yamuna authority said.

Shailendra Singh, officer on special duty (OSD), Yeida, said, “Under the UP Industrial Area Development Act, to include a certain area for industrial purpose, it is first notified as a special area. When the area is notified, we utilise it for commercial or even residential, institutional purposes, which is approved by the state administration and a budget is passed by the cabinet. Such notified areas can only be sold or purchased but no construction activity can take place in the notified area. Construction is done post the approval from the authority only.”

“Some people from other states arrive here and purchase land from farmers, etc, at low rates and take possession. They later get small-time realtors to develop their homes there. So far, only plotting work and offices were set up in the plot we cleared. The area concerned has been notified and as such, any construction on the land is illegal. Taking action on this, we had first issued a notice around 15 days ago to the people concerned to remove the encroachments, but no heed was paid to the warning issued. Therefore, demolition exercise under Section 10 of the UP Industrial Area Development Act was taken up across the identified land worth ₹236 crore,” said the OSD.