Ghaziabad development authority survey finds unauthorised colonies on rise

The authority, wherever possible, has also identified the realtors/developers who were instrumental in developing these colonies in less than one year to about last 45 years.

Ghaziabad: A survey conducted by the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) earlier this month has found the presence of 350 different unauthorised colonies, an increase of 29 colonies since the 2018 survey. Officials said that they will soon launch a demolition drive after following procedures.

The latest survey’s list has indicated that these unauthorised colonies span to a minimum area of less than one acre to up to about 135 acres. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The list released by the authority shows these 350 colonies are spread over an area of about 2,943.8 acres (1191.31 hectares). These exist in areas including Loni, Tronica City, Karhera, Noor Nagar, Akbarpur Behrampur, Dundahera, Kanawani Pushta Road, Lal Kuan, Shastri Nagar, Avantika, adjacent to Grand Trunk Road, Vijay Nagar, Pratap Vihar, Meerut Road and Nandgram, among others.

The authority, wherever possible, has also identified the realtors/developers who were instrumental in developing these colonies in less than one year to about last 45 years.

“We have compiled a fresh list of unauthorised colonies and will soon launch a demolition drive in erring instances. We have been able to curb many instances in the past one year and we will also fix the responsibility of area supervisors and assistance engineers directly responsible for supervision of their respective areas. Demolition many a times hit roadblocks as many of these colonies have dense population of residents,” said Atul Vats, vice-chairperson, GDA.

The authorised colonies mostly remain unplanned as these come up without any map approvals and also without adherence to land usage. The latest survey’s list has indicated that these unauthorised colonies span to a minimum area of less than one acre to up to about 135 acres.

Officials said that they have taken up enforcement exercises under provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973, but majority of these colonies are already populated and occupied.

“The list of unauthorised colonies will grow over time as desired enforcement is hardly seen. Such colonies cannot grow overnight and hint at connivance of officials with the unauthorised developers. These colonies lead to unplanned development and pose issues whenever agencies try to bring in infrastructure projects,” said Rajendra Tyagi, former municipal councillor from Raj Nagar.

Officials of the stamps and registration department said that they do not have provision to check legality of developed land.

“The Allahabad high court had earlier quashed an order of the district magistrate for banning registries in unauthorised colonies. We do not have any provision to check whether a property is located at any authorised or unauthorised colony. We simply have to take up assessment on prevalent circle rates and charge stamp duty while registering,” said Pushpendra Kumar, assistant inspector general (AIG, stamps).