Unregulated construction the norm in Noida villages

NOIDA: There are thousands of unregulated buildings in Noida built with the same lack of oversight as the two buildings that collapsed on Tuesday night in Shahberi. This, obviously, didn’t happen in a day — across 80 Noida villages, apartment buildings have been coming up steadily over the last couple of decades, offering cheap accommodation and flats for sale.

Neither the Noida Authority, nor the district administration stopped this, or formulated a mechanism that would ensure they came under regulatory supervision. Flats in village buildings, in the meantime, found their way into government books with a legal stamp because they were registered without objection, or verification. It’s a similar situation in Greater Noida. The pace of real estate development in Noida’s villages would be significantly higher, proportionate to how the two cities have developed and metro connectivity. Building in villages is easier because land is freehold as opposed to urban Noida where land is leasehold.
So, while the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities focused on group housing projects in developed sectors, the illegal market flourished simultaneously, with a well-oiled system in place of local builders and brokers who facilitated sales and registries.


It’s not that there is no law. The development of freehold properties in Noida is governed by the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Fourth Amendment) Manual 2016. It says building layouts in rural areas shall be approved by the Noida Authority and that a project must be vetted by competent officials. The maximum permissible floor area ratio (FAR) is 1.8 with height of 15 metres (up to 3 floors). Few have conformed to this. Both buildings in Shahberi that collapsed had six storeys.
The lack of coordination between the authorities, district administration, registry department has made the job of unscrupulous builders and brokers easier.

Noida CEO Alok Tandon said on Thursday people in rural areas can use their freehold land and build homes for personal use. “They can’t make group housing societies on such land. A prior approval of layout is also mandatory. We have also issued a guideline for development of projects in rural areas,” Tandon told TOI.

Noida is spread across 20,000 hectares and its areas are notified, meaning the land comes under the ambit of the Authority. “The stamp and registry department should verify property documents before registry,” said a Noida Authority official.

S K Singh, assistant commissioner of the stamp and registry department in Gautam Budh Nagar, said, “We are not entitled to check the project title and quality of construction materials. This is the work of authorities concerned and buyers. The stamp department’s primary objective is to ensure there is no stamp duty evasion,” he said.

District Magistrate B N Singh said the Noida Authority should acknowledge its responsibility of monitoring real estate projects in private and government land alike.