Noida forms committee to address local farmers’ demands over land compensation

NOIDA: Noida authority’s chief executive officer (CEO) Ritu Maheshwari has assured farmers that issues of farmers will be looked into and their grievances related

NOIDA: Noida authority’s chief executive officer (CEO) Ritu Maheshwari has assured farmers that issues of farmers will be looked into and their grievances related to land compensation, Abadi area and residential plot allotment, among others, will be addressed.

HT Image

For this, the CEO has also formed a committee, headed by the additional CEO, which will suggest ways to make amends in the building regulation bylaws so that issues of Abadi (residential buildings) of farmers can be addressed.

The move comes after a group of farmers protested against the authority at its administrative building in Sector 6 on Monday morning. They alleged that the authority has failed to address their genuine grievances that include Abadi areas in villages, hiked land compensation, residential plots against their acquired land, and development work in villages. Following the protest, the authority met with the farmers’ delegation and also discussed the issues with Noida MLA Pankaj Singh.

“The authority will take up the issues of farmers on a priority basis with the state government so that a solution can be reached at the earliest. It will carry out developmental work in villages at par with urban sectors and also allot them residential plots in a new Sector 146,” said Maheshwari in a press statement.

However, the farmers’ group said it is not satisfied with the authority’s assurances.

“The authority is trying to destroy the villages as well as villagers who gave their land for the development of Noida city. Our demands are very simple – the authority must leave our houses (Abadi) without troubling us in the name of getting map approvals; pay land compensation to all farmers; allot residential plots uniformly; and allow registry in villages, as it was allowed earlier on all floors of a house, among others,” said Sukhbir Yadav, who led the protest against the authority.

Yadav said that if the authority continues to demolish their houses in villages and label them unauthorised constructions then their agitation will continue.

“We protested for a day against the authority on Monday and if they continue to harass us, we will protest once again,” said Yadav.