Noida demolishes 5-storey ‘illegal’ commercial complex in Hajipur

NOIDA:The Noida authority on Friday said it has demolished a five-storey unauthorised commercial building in Hajipur in Sector 104

NOIDA:The Noida authority on Friday said it has demolished a five-storey unauthorised commercial building in Hajipur in Sector 104.

Authority demolishing an illegal commercial complex in Hajipur village, Sector 104. (Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

Officials said the demolition came after a court recently rejected the plaintiff’s claim of ownership of the 1,200 sqm plot.

The authority said it had acquired the plot in March 2002, but some people later encroached on the land and developed a commercial complex.

On Friday, a team of Noida authority, led by an OSD and including the general manager, reached the spot along with police personnel and seven earthmovers to carry out the demolition.

AK Arora, general manager, Noida authority, said, “The authority had put up a board at the site around two months ago declaring the building illegal and issued several warnings against encroachment.”

On July 6, 2024, a team reached the spot to conduct the demolition when the alleged encroachers resisted the action and poured kerosene on themselves,threatening to self-immolate.The officials had to stop the drive, said officials.

Nishyam Buildcon Private Limited claims the ownership of the plot, said officials.

In 2023, the company approached a Surajpur-based Gautam Buddha Nagar district court,claiming that it was the owner and occupant of the land. Based on the complaint, the court on April 12, 2023 issued an injunction restraining Noida from carrying out the demolition, officials said.

However, the authority claimed that the plaintiff has obtained the interim injunction by concealing material facts.

“Plaintiffs are not owner of land in question.The ADM (Land Acquisition) transferred possession in favour of Noida on March 23, 2002. The plaintiff has purchased the land after 22 years of acquisition on the basis of forged document,” it said in the court.

Additional civil judge Shreyansh Niranjan on August 8, 2026 rejected the plaintiff’s application. Following this, the authority expedited the demolition drive to reclaim the property.

Noida serves notices to allottees of unsafe buildings

The authority has started serving notices to allottees and residents of buildings categorised as ‘unsafe’, advising them to shift to safer locations.

The move comes days after a building collapsed in Delhi, killing seven people.

Officials said teams are visiting sectors and villages and pasting notices on buildings found to be in a dangerous or dilapidated condition. The notices advise building owners and residents to vacate the premises immediately to avoid any untoward incident.

“The condition of the building has deteriorated due to lack of proper maintenance by the allottees and construction carried out beyond the sanctioned plans, resulting in alterations to the original structure. Therefore, Noida authority advises the allottee and those residing in dilapidated buildings to vacate the premises immediately and shift to other safe buildings,” reads one such notice served to an EWS flat owner in Sector 31.

On July 17, 2018, a six-storey building collapsed in Shahberi, Greater Noida, killing nine people. Following this, the authority conducted a survey and prepared a list of 1,757 unauthorised structures across the city.

Of these, 56 were found to be in a dilapidated condition, 114 had come up on notified land, 261 were constructed on acquired land, while 1,326 unauthorised buildings had come up in different villages. The authority had pulled down some of these structures, but the action did not yield the desired results, officials said.

Kapil Singh, senior manager, Noida authority, said fresh notices were being served on allottees and residents living in unsafe buildings, asking them to vacate the premises.