G Noida: Authority issues notice to 40 illegal PGs in residential areas
The Greater Noida authority is planning a massive crackdown on the paying guest (PG) accommodations operational in its residential sectors.
The Greater Noida authority is planning a massive crackdown on the paying guest (PG) accommodations operational in its residential sectors.
The authority has served notices to 40 such accommodations in various residential sectors of the city.
According to the Greater Noida authority, they cannot allow any commercial activity in residential areas.
The PGs that have been served notices were identified with the help of local resident welfare associations and neighbours.
They have been instructed to shut down the operation with immediate effect.
The PG operators have been told that if they continue to run the accommodations, a penalty of `250 per day will be imposed on the plot owners. This will be followed by cancellation of the plot lease.
“These guest houses and PGs avail water and power supply and other services under residential house category at cheaper rates. If any flat or plot owner wants to run a paying guest accommodation, he or she should take a no objection certificate (NOC) from the authority. The NOC is given only to commercial plots,” said VP Singh, officer on special duty (OSD) with the Greater Noida authority.
“We have initiated a survey to identify the violators for further action,” said Singh.
“The owners are facilitating their guests with round-the-clock water and power supply by extracting groundwater through submersible pumps and generators. This causes nuisance for neighbours,” said Singh.
He said that the drive has been initiated from Knowledge Park I and II areas where many residential plots have been turned into paying guest accommodations.
“Before taking action on complaints against illegal PGs, the registration of plot is verified with the project department,” he said.
Many other PG accommodations will also get notices soon, said Singh.
There are around two lakh students enrolled in various colleges and only half of them get accommodation in the college hostels.
Rest of the students stay either in paying guest accommodations or rented accommodations.
There are around 100 management and engineering institutions in Greater Noida.
After the action initiated by the authority, students are in state of dismay as the paying guest house owners have asked the students to vacate the houses.
“We cannot afford to pay very high rents. We need cheap lodging. After the closure order, the authorised PGs have hiked the rents by up to 30%. It is unfair on the part of the authority to dislodge migrant students. There are over 25,000 students living in various PG accommodations in Greater Noida,” said Hitesh Khurana, a student.