‘unsafe’ Since ’20, 82 Bldgs Still Occupied, Real Estate News, ET RealEstate
NOIDA: The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) sealed an under-construction building in Shahberi and served notices to the occupants of 82 others on Saturday.
Officials said a 2020 IIT-Delhi survey found them unsafe and developed without following the bylaws. But people have continued to live in them.
Kapil Singh, a senior manager with the GNIDA, said, “A safety audit of the buildings by IIT-Delhi in March 2020 found them unsafe. At the time, we conducted a drive and sealed the buildings. But recently, we received information that some people have started living in these buildings. We have marked the 82 buildings and served notices to the occupants to evict the premises. We will take action if they do not move out,” he said.
Officials said that in 2020, IIT-Delhi studied 437 buildings in Shahberi and found that only three did not require any further action, while its report recommended strengthening the remaining 434 buildings.
During the sealing drive on Saturday, the GNIDA officials also made announcements with loudspeakers, saying that people should not live in unsafe buildings where unwanted incidents could take place due to rains this monsoon.
On July 17, 2018, two buildings in Shahberi collapsed, killing nine persons, including a minor, which prompted the GNIDA to approach IIT Delhi for a survey identifying illegal properties in the area.
The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Fourth Amendment) Manual, 2016, which guides the development of freehold properties in Noida, says the Noida Authority has to approve the building layout of any projects in the rural areas, followed by competent officials vetting such projects. The maximum permissible floor area ratio (FAR) is 1.8, with a height of 15 metres (up to 3 floors), whereas the two buildings that collapsed in 2018 had six storeys.
Brij Bhushan Tyagi, a resident of Shahberi, said the area is densely populated but lacks basic infrastructure. “The GNIDA has not developed sewage lines in Shahberi. The water does not pass, which leads to problems. The roads are also in a dilapidated condition. Officials must fix these issues as several people live in Shahberi,” he said.
