GDA asks 16,000 Tulsi Niketan residents to vacate unsafe flats

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has issued eviction notices to 16,000 residents of Tulsi Niketan, where 2,300 flats built by the development agency three decades ago have been declared “unsafe” for living.
Though the residents have been given time till December 16 to relocate, the GDA has said it won’t evict them forcibly. The residents have opposed the move, seeking a written assurance from the agency that all those who were being asked to shift now would be given new flats.

The residents are apprehensive about the GDA’s move because most of them do not have their names on the registry deeds. Almost 90% of the residents of Tulsi Niketan own these flats through power of attorney. But, the GDA recognises ownership of houses if only the owner’s name is on the registry deed.

GDA vice-chairperson Kanchan Verma sought to allay the fears. “There seems to be a trust deficit over the issue of power of attorney. We have already written to the state government and asked it to tweak the norms. On our part, we want to assure the residents that we are ready to accept power of attorney as the basis of handing over new flats,” Verma said.

As far as the December 16 deadline is concerned, Verma suggested there would be no forcible eviction and the GDA would try and build a consensus by holding talks with the residents. “We have held talks with the residents. But more such sessions are needed to arrive at a consensus,” said Verma. “We are even ready to pay the rent of the residents till the time the new flats are handed over to them,” she added.

RWA president Kuldeep Kasana said it was the GDA’s job to quell all doubts regarding the transfer of new flats. “The GDA had built this society around three decades ago. Since then, the ownership of these flats has changed multiple hands and most of them were through power of attorney. Since the GDA recognises only those owners whose names are on the registries, the concern raised by the residents is valid. They want a written assurance before leaving their flats” said Kasana.

Snajay Sharma, a resident, said: “There are 2,292 flats here, of which 288 are for low-income groups. The GDA must understand that 16,000 residents live here. No family wants to risk leaving their flats unless rules are tweaked on power of attorney. We need a written assurance from the GDA on ownership.”

Though the flats in Tulsi Niketan have been lying in disrepair for years, it was only after a ceiling collapse in October this year that the GDA stressed on the eviction of residents and wrote to the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation to declare the colony unsafe for living.

The GDA now plans to construct 10-storey buildings in the area after razing the society. The newly constructed flats would be handed over to the original residents while the remaining ones would be sold. This will help the agency raise some of the funds it plans to spend on the buildings.