Three development authorities kick off land audit

NOIDA: The three development authorities of Gautam Budh Nagar — Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway — have started a land audit in their respective areas. The move follows directions of Uttar Pradesh's principal secretary of industries, Alok Sinha, that an audit be conducted to create an inventory of the land bank available with the three areas for future planning besides optimum utilisation of land.

According to officials of the three authorities, a nodal officer has been designated by each of the authorities for the audit. "As per directions of the state government, the audit has to be completed by December 31, 2017," said Amarnath Upadhyay, additional CEO (ACEO), Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).

"We have also launched the audit," said officer on special duty, Noida Authority, Rajesh Singh, who is the nodal officer for Noida. "We are carrying out the audit in a phased manner considering the area covering Noida is very large. The audit will be modular, carried out in four phases and in a year-wise manner starting from the year of Noida's inception in 1976 till now," he explained.

In Greater Noida, the audit is being done area-wise. "We have started with Greater Noida (west) area first," said KK Singh, nodal officer for Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA).

"Departments of the authority dealing with land, GB Nagar district administration and planning departments will coordinate and assist in the land audit," he explained.

After the audit, the land bank which is created will be put up on websites of all three authorities using a hi-tech GIS-based online tool, which will define the exact coordinates of all land which falls under the jurisdiction of each authority.

"This will allow developers to search and bid for unused parcels of land suitable for their specific purpose," said Upadhyay. "With a land bank in place, we will also be sure of how much land is used by each authority and how much is available for future development," the YEIDA ACEO added.