Noida authority seals illegal housing project, frees up 150 acres

The Noida authority on Tuesday sealed an illegal housing project that was built in Wazidpur area and where the developer was selling apartments to gullible homebuyers. Earlier, the authority through a public notice had warned the public not to buy property in that project as it was being built without getting the layout map approval by the authority’s town planning department, officials said.

The authority also demolished illegally built structures on 150 acres of land in the floodplain area of the Hindon river.

The authority freed up 150 acres in Sorkha village, and it is valued at approximately ₹480 crore. The developers were illegally developing housing projects there and had started constructing boundary walls to sell the housing plots, said officials.

Acting on information received about the encroachments, a team of authority officials inspected the site and initiated a large-scale demolition drive with the help of the police. The authority took four hours to remove these structures in the presence of 50 police personnel.

“We have appealed to the public not to purchase land in such areas without verifying the legality of the transaction. Purchasing such property often leads to financial losses as the land in question is unauthorised and the authority will demolish the any construction on it,” said Lokesh M, chief executive officer, Noida authority.

Since January 2024, the Noida authority has freed up approximately 200 acres of land valued at about ₹1,400 crore.

In another related matter, the Noida authority sealed an unauthorised multi-storey building in Wajidpur village. This structure, built on notified land acquired by the authority, was constructed without requisite permissions.

Despite multiple notices issued to encroachers and a status quo ordered by the Allahabad high court in August last year, the illegal construction has continued.

Based on the high court order, the encroachers had given a fresh representation to the Noida authority, but it was rejected on November 4, 2024, after a detailed review of facts.

Subsequently, officials of the land records department urged local police to halt the construction through a letter last month, but the encroachers continued their activities. Finally, on Tuesday, the authority supported by police, sealed the building.