Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation survey to identify village encroachments

GHAZIABAD: A survey has been launched by Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) to identify the extent of land encroachment in 48 villages that fall under its notified limit areas. District administration officials are assisting the municipal corporation in the survey, which began last week.

According to GMC officials, the survey report will be finalised next week. Sub-divisional magistrate Indu Prakash Singh has been nominated by the district administration to lead the team in the survey.

"The primary reason for undertaking the survey is to identify government lands within municipal corporation limits that have been usurped by encroachers. The survey report will be given to the anti-land mafia cell that has been constituted by the administration. The cell will take a final call on the method in which the land will be reclaimed from the encroachers," Singh told TOI.

Earlier last week, GMC commissioner, Chandra Prakash Singh, had asked the district administration to extend assistance for undertaking survey to free encroached land. The survey will cover the land that is in the legal possession of the municipal corporation. The land which has already been handed over by the corporation to Ghaziabad Development Authority and the UP Housing & Development Board will not be covered in the survey.

The anti-land mafia cell is likely to initiate legal proceedings in areas where houses and dwelling units have already been developed in form of colonies. Small-scale encroachments are likely to be demolished following the submission of the survey report.