Master plan 2031: GDA earmarks 1,100 hectares for industrial expansion

According to norms, nearly 45% of the land under the master plan is earmarked for residential usage and about 15% for green areas. About 5% of the total land is set aside for industrial purposes and 2% of commercial use, said officials

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has identified about 1,100 hectares of vacant land in the district for further industrial expansion, and earmarked the same in the draft Master Plan 2031, which is in its final stages of preparation, authority officials said..

In terms of pollution, the city was judged the second-most polluted city in the World Air Quality Report prepared by Swiss firm IQAir in 2021 and at the 11th spot in 2022. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The identified land chunks are located in Ghaziabad city, Modinagar, Muradnagar and Loni, said GDA officials, adding that the need for land for industrial expansion was felt after several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed at the Uttar Pradesh Investors’ Summit held earlier in 2023.

“With the land identified, investors can now approach the authority for getting their maps approved. The land is available for purchase and it can be bought directly from farmers. We sent about 31 different MoUs signed with investors to the government and the state officials sent us a total of 51 proposals. Eighteen of them have been processed in the first phase,” said Rajiv Ratan Sah, town planner, GDA.

“The master plan is in the final stages and some detailing is being done as directed by the state officials. This will take some weeks. Once that is done, the plan will be put before the GDA board for approval and then sent to the state government for a final approval,” Sah said.

According to norms, nearly 45% of the land under the master plan is earmarked for residential usage and about 15% for green areas. About 5% of the total land is set aside for industrial purposes and 2% of commercial use, said officials.

The city has 522 square kilometres (sqm) of geographical area and a master plan is a broad layout of the city, which clearly demarcates land for various purposes such as residential, commercial and industrial, among others.

“Ghaziabad city needs immediate improvement in air quality and also needs to tackle the degradation and depletion of groundwater resources. There are over a dozen industrial areas in operation in places such as Loni and Muradnagar. These issues need to be fixed first,” said Sushil Raghav, a city-based environmentalist.

According to the Uttar Pradesh groundwater department, the densely populated residential blocks of Ghaziabad city, Loni and Bhojpur continue to experience a decline in groundwater level in 2022. The two blocks of Muradnagar and Razapur have shown a minor improvement in water levels in the pre-monsoon period of 2022 as compared to pre-monsoon figures of 2016.

In terms of pollution, the city was judged the second-most polluted city in the World Air Quality Report prepared by Swiss firm IQAir in 2021 and at the 11th spot in 2022.