Noida: No registry yet, Sports City homebuyers to move court

NOIDA: Ashok Vardhan had booked a flat at a condominium in Sector 79 back in 2011. While he moved into the property in 2018, he has not been able to get the property registered yet. Like Vardhan, around 15,000 flats owners in nearly 15 projects in the sector are waiting to get their units registered in lieu of the pending Sports City project that was aimed at providing the best sporting infrastructure along with housing. With no roadmap from the government and the Noida authority, residents have now decided to move the court.

After the sports city scheme was launched in 2011, the Noida Authority had sold plots to private builders who had to develop sports facilities and other infrastructure. Under the scheme, about 70% of the area had to be reserved for recreational and sports facilities while commercial infrastructure was to be allowed on 10% of the area while residential plots or group housing projects were to come up on the remaining 20%.

“We are yet to receive any roadmap from either the government or the Noida Authority. I had filed a Right to Information (RTI) about three months back on the Sports City project, but the department concerned said the queries cannot be answered. For how long do we have to live in our flats illegally?” Vardhan said. The Mahagun Mirabella resident said a residents’ collective had now started to work on the initial documentation process required to move the court.

Sanwarjeet Singh, a resident of nearby Gaur Sportswood, claimed that residents felt “cheated” that they were not able to get their units registered despite having to pay at least a 30% premium for the upcoming Sports City. “We were shown big dreams about this Sports City project that there will be a golf course, cricket stadium, playfield, swimming complex and tennis courts in the sector. However, with the project stuck, the registration of our flats has also been stuck in limbo,” he told TOI.

According to Dinesh Gupta, another resident of Sector 79, a report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in December 2021 had cited that the Noida Authority had spotted several irregularities in the Sports City project. “Residents have paid the full money and stamp duty to the builder for their flats. Stopping the registration is an attack on their interest,” Gupta said. Noida Authority ACEO Praveen Mishra told TOI, “We are not in a position to disclose anything on this right now. Something is going on but it will be shared by the CEO Noida Authority when the time comes.”