Yamuna expressway allottees want plot bifurcation policy scrapped

The YEIDA had in 2009 allotted 21,000 residential plots. But the authority has not yet offered possession of these plots because of farmer protests. Many farmers have gone to the court, challenging the acquisition.

A delegation of plot allottees on Friday met Dr Prabhat Kumar, chairman of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), and demanded scrapping of a policy that allows bifurcation of a large plot into two.

The authority is unable to allot large plots to applicants because farmers in a majority of such cases are not ready to part with their agricultural land that has been earmarked for residential sectors 18 and 20. (HT Photo)

As per the policy, the authority wants to break up large plots into two. The policy came into being because the authority wants to allot smaller plots rather than big chunky ones.

The authority is unable to allot large plots to applicants because farmers in a majority of such cases are not ready to part with their agricultural land that has been earmarked for residential sectors 18 and 20.

“This move (plot bifurcation) would be extremely unfair to allottees who have been patiently waiting for eight years against a promised possession timeline of 2013. Not only the original price, YERWA (Yamuna Expressway Residential Plot Owners Welfare Association) members have also paid the enhanced amount, as demanded by YEIDA. This has forced us to incur heavy losses and interest. It would be a gross injustice if the authority continues with this bifurcation policy,” said Safal Suri, YERWA president.

The YEIDA had in 2009 allotted 21,000 residential plots. But the authority has not yet offered possession of these plots because of farmer protests. Many farmers have gone to the court, challenging the acquisition.

“The authority has not been able to acquire enough land in sectors 18 and 20. The additional land that the authority gets from reducing plot sizes will enable it to give possession to more allottees. But why would we accept smaller plots?” said Suri.

Amarnath Upadhyaya, additional chief executive officer of YEIDA, said, “We are thinking of a proposal to scrap this bifurcation policy.”