Greater Noida stops Gita recital staged without nod

GREATER NOIDA: A religious programme organised without permission was stopped in Greater Noida on Wednesday, a day after the district magistrate BN Singh declared no such gathering or event would be allowed in a public space without the government’s approval. Singh’s comments had come on Tuesday in response to the controversy that triggered by police notices to private companies in Noida to stop their employees from offering Friday prayers at a local park.

Officials of Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) moved in after local residents complained that some people had put up makeshift structures — some tents and a stage — and started a Bhagwat Katha (Gita recital) on a vacant plot in Sector 37. The tents and a part of the stage were removed but some idols remained.

Residents claimed they had been raising funds to buy the plot — which has been earmarked for a religious place but not allotted yet — from GNIDA but a group of “outsiders” had encroached on it on Wednesday morning. The same group had allegedly tried to install a deity at the same spot two months ago but couldn’t as GNIDA stopped them.

Sunita Nagar, the RWA president of Sector 37, said in her complaint to GNIDA the outsiders were planning to install idols and build a temple in the garb of organising a weeklong Bhagwat Katha Bhagat Ram, general RWA secretary said local residents had formed a Shiv Mandir Welfare Samiti. “We’re collecting funds to get the land allotted,” he said.

GNIDA CEO Narendra Bhooshan said the encroachment was removed as the plot has not been allotted to anyone. “We’ll soon launch plot allotment schemes for religious activities. The plots will be allotted after due process and people can construct places of worship,” he said.