Noida: Owners of plots lying idle get a year's time to finish construction

Noida: Owners of plots lying idle get a year’s time to finish construction

NOIDA: Thousands of people who bought land in the city several years ago but left the plots vacant will now have more time to finish construction. According to an order issued on July 30, the Noida Authority will send legal notices to such allottees and they will get a year, from the date mentioned in their notice, to wrap up the construction work.

On August 31, 2020, the Industrial Area Development Act was amended and the authority was given the power to cancel land deeds for plots that were allotted but left vacant for years.

The amendment stated: “Any land that is allotted but is not utilised for the purpose for which it was allotted within a period of five years from the date of possession or within the period fixed for such utilisation in the conditions of the allotment, whichever is longer, the lease deed will stand cancelled and the land shall vest with the authority.”

So far, the Noida Authority has allocated around 50,000 plots meant for residential, industrial, commercial and institutional use, along with land for farmers under the 5% abadi scheme.

Soon after the amendment was brought in, a survey was conducted and Noida Authority identified 3,766 plots that were vacant after allocation. Most of those were residential plots.

From September 7 last year, the authority started sending notices to such allottees asking them to start construction work on their plots or face cancellations. But subsequently, authority officials asked the government for advice on whether they should offer exemption to allottees on account of the pandemic, as many of them could not start work because of Covid-related restrictions and other problems.

“On July 30, the industries department passed a fresh order and now, legal notices have to be sent to all such allottees via registered post. We will tell them that they have a year to take completion certificates from the authority. Otherwise, the lease deed will be cancelled and their plots will be taken over by the authority,” said an official from Noida Authority. Notices would be sent to 900 residential and 280 industrial plot allottees, officials have said.

Arvind Kumar, the additional chief secretary, industries department, said: “The period (of one year) will be counted from the date mentioned on the notice and cancellation proceedings will be initiated accordingly.”

For now, the authority will not take any action against land meant for group housing projects that are vacant.

Ashu Yadav, a Ghazipur resident who bought a plot in Sector 61 in 2012, said: “It was bought in my mother’s name. She passed away in 2018 and I got it transferred to my name. But due to the pandemic, I could not start construction. This development has come as a huge relief.”