GHAZIABAD: Nearly 25 acres of land along the Hindon floodplains, occupied by a stone-crushing unit and numerous store rooms, was cleared of the encroachments on Monday.
Last month, the
GDA had conducted a survey of the area following a complaint made by the
Federation of Apartment Owners Association to divisional commissioner
Prabhat Kumar last month.
“More than a dozen persons had constructed numerous store rooms on the floodplains near the crushing unit to store building construction materials which were also razed in the drive. The land on which these construction activities had been going on is designated as floodplains in GDA Master Plan 2021. No construction activity is permitted in this area. Channels from these units through which municipal waste was being drained into the river thereby polluting it was also blocked,” said executive engineer, GDA, RP Singh.
According to officials, the market value of 25 acres of land in this part of the city would cost anywhere between Rs 70 and 75 crore. In addition, the team also razed a park, a farmhouse and boundaries erected around plots of land, measuring up to a total of two hectares, on the floodplains.
The team faced stiff opposition during the drive on Monday from some villagers of
Kanawani who had allegedly usurped the land. However, no violence was reported because police reinforcements had been sent to the area well in advance.
“The administration should put a permanent end to residential units too that are being built on the Hindon floodplains. These units are being sold to unsuspecting buyers whose hard-earned money would go down the drain if the houses are demolished. Warning boards should be placed at locations along the
Pushta Road alerting homebuyers,” said federation president Alok Kumar.
