11 unauthorised colonies demolished near Jewar airport site

With the demand for land in Jewar, where the Noida international airport is being developed, going up and property consultants luring prospective customers to buy plots here at attractive rates, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) has demolished 11 unauthorised colonies that had come up in the region and has sought the help of the state government to contain the development of illegal colonies.

The action comes after the authority received multiple complaints that the unauthorised colonies are coming up in Jhhajar and Enayatpur villages, barely 5-6km from the airport site.

Yeida officials said since works picked up pace at the airport site after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath laid the foundation stone of the project on November 25 last year, it has spurred the hopes of property consultants, who are on the lookout of prospective buyers and investors who want to buy residential and commercial land around the airport at cheap rates and make quick returns. The concessionaire for the airport project– Zurich International AG — intends to make the airport operational by September 29, 2024.

Real estate consultants are approaching people via sms, calls, videos and also putting up advertisements on the Jewar-Bulandshahr road to lure customers. Yeida officials said buying land from private developers or consultants without approval from the government is not ‘safe’. According to the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Act, 1976, selling residential plots or developing a housing project on agricultural land notified by the state is illegal.

“We have filed FIRs against 11 developers, who were found developing colonies without any approval from the government or the concerned authorities. We have demolished 11 housing projects–10 in Jhhajar and one in Enayatpur. We have also appealed to buyers not to buy plots or commercial property, which are not approved by the authority,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of Yeida.

Officials said the modus operandi of the developers of unauthorised projects is simple. They construct a boundary wall over a piece of land, carve out residential plots and offer them at a rate lower than Yeida. They offer plots/land at a rate of 8,000 per sqm to 10,000 per sqm without obtaining any permission/approval from the concerned authorities. The Yeida offers residential land at a rate of 16000 per sqm and also provides basic amenities such as roads, drains, sewer and parks, among a host of other facilities, unlike unauthorised developers.

The Yeida has cleared illegal developments on 560,000 sqm of land. According to rough estimates, the going rate of the land cleared by Yeida is around 500 crore.

Officials said old town areas, such as Tappal, have become hubs for illegal colonies. “We are writing to the state government about these illegal colonies. We will not entertain any illegal development on land near the airport as it is earmarked for planned development,” said Singh.