As work on Noida airport takes off, 'dream houses' & illegal plots offered around site

As work on Noida airport takes off, ‘dream houses’ & illegal plots offered around site

NOIDA: A visit to the Yamuna Expressway and Greater Noida throws up a barrage of hoardings
and advertisements on the wall, many now selling people their “dream houses”. Evidently,
construction of the Noida International Airport, endorsed as the eventual alternative to the IGI in
Delhi, has caught the eye of property dealers in and around Jewar.
The business, often illegal, is lucrative. Dealers are trying to lure prospective buyers with claims
that the properties are authorised by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority
(YEIDA) or that they aren’t part of the area notified for industrial development.
The civic body is in charge of development of the airport in Jewar, the first phase of which is
scheduled to be completed by September 2024. In areas notified by YEIDA, an individual can
buy land but cannot construct until the authority’s permission is granted. “It is unlikely the
authority will grant permission because development work is more or less certain,” a YEIDA
official said on the condition

Several property dealers TOI spoke with said they were offering plots within 2-3km from the
airport’s perimeter. One person from Greater Noida said: “You tell me your requirement
(authorised or unauthorised) and I will show you such plots, which will not be acquired by
YEIDA.”
Another dealer, with an office in Dankaur’s Niloni Mirzapur, some 30km from the airport, said he
only dealt in “authority” or “government” plots with “no interference from anyone”. He did not
give the rates. In Jewar’s residential area, right next to the airport, another dealer said the rates
of plot in the area have surged since the airport announcement was made in November 2021.
Earlier, the price was Rs 8,000 to 18,000 per yard. “It has now tripled,” he said on the condition
of anonymity.
Just off the expressway on the Agra-Delhi side, in Dudhera village, a man was overseeing
construction work of a boundary wall on an 4-bigha plot near the service road. The man, a
resident of the village, gave the number of an “ex-serviceman” – a dealer who, he said, could
give more information about the land.
“The plot is just 2.5km away from the airport and is not part of the Master Plan 2031. The price
we are offering it in is Rs 50 lakh per bigha. We will get the registry done on your name directly
from the farmer. It is part of the village land, so there is no problem from the authority’s side.
Even if it is acquired by the authority in the future, you will get compensation and 7% of the plot
acquired. Moreover, your adult children will also be eligible for compensation,” the exserviceman said over a call.

YEIDA’s Master Plan 2031 envisages development of an industrial eco-city.
The ex-serviceman also said that plots are available in Tappal, which falls under Aligarh district
and is just 9km from the airport. “It’s a good time to invest in this region,” he added.
Along with others, Tappal too has emerged as an area of interest. Most dealers and property
owners are advertising it as land belonging to the Tappal Nagar Panchayat, and not under the
jurisdiction of YEIDA.
They aren’t quite wrong, but Authority officials are surprised by this. Under YEIDA’s Master Plan
Phase-2 for development around the airport, a logistics park is proposed to be built in the
Tappal-Bajna Urban Center.
While looking for a consultant to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the park, the
Authority found out last year that Tappal had been notified under the panchayat in December
2020 without its knowledge, officials said. “No correspondence was ever made by the nagar
panchayat to the Authority in this regard. The Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Act has the
power of overriding effect, and in view of this, the land, which had been under the Authority’s
jurisdiction all along, does not seem to be legally justified under the nagar panchayat. The
Authority wrote to the state government in October 2021 and January 2022 to de-notify it as it
falls under the Master Plan,” said YEIDA chief executive officer Arun Vir Singh.
However, until the state government takes action, plots in Tappal are being sold at premium
rates.
When asked, YEIDA officials said they too have observed this trend in recent months. To ensure
homebuyers are not duped out of buying property on false promises, officials said it’s better to
check records first. “The names of notified villages are specified in the official gazette. Before
investing, one should find out whether the property is part of village land or a YEIDA notified
area,” the official cited above said.
A senior YEIDA official said it was the duty of the lekhpal and the tehsildar of an area to keep a
watch on illegal constructions and inform the Authority. “If that does not happen, it means that
these officials are part of the nexus,” he said. The Yamuna Authority has also stepped up action
over illegal colonies and construction in the past few months.
In March, officials razed to the ground two unauthorised colonies in Jhajhar and Enayatpur
areas of Bulandshahr district, located within a 6km radius of the Jewar airport. Similarly, another
unauthorised colony was demolished in Dankaur, some 30km from the airport.
According to data by the Yamuna Authority, 196 cases were filed over illegal construction in the
past nine months (September 2021- May 5, 2022).