All LDA zones asked to buy or hire bulldozers
LUCKNOW/KANPUR/ VARANASI/ AGRA: : All eight zones of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) have been asked to purchase or hire two bulldozers to demolish illegal structures in their zones or face action, according to a highly placed official of the development authority. And the officials have wasted no time to get going.
In consonance with the LDA vice-chairman’s directives, officials have prepared a list of over 100 buildings that were constructed illegally.
Lucknow Development Authority vice-chairman Akshay Kumar Tripathi said, “Action will be taken against the illegal structures and the land mafia.”
LDA officials say most of these buildings are in Aliganj, Gomti Nagar, Jankipuram, Kanpur Road, Nakkhas, Chowk, Aminabad, Sultanpur Road, Faizabad Road, Hardoi Road, Sitapur Road and Kaiserbagh areas.
Acting on this list, LDA officials pressed bulldozers into service against an illegal colony in Barawan Kalan under the Thakurganj police station limits on March 23.
Seven days later, the LDA bulldozers demolished an illegal residential building on Prag Narain Road on March 30 as part of the ongoing drive to free government land from the clutches of encroachers.
The construction firm was owned by a politician. The builder had constructed the illegal building on 2,800 sq mt area on nazul (public) land. Showcause notices had been served on the builder a number of times under Sections 27(1), 28(1) and 28(2) of the Uttar Pradesh Town Planning and Development Act 1973, according to those in the know of things. He was given ample time to reply.
But the builder did not respond to the notices and continued with construction work at the site without an approved map, LDA secretary Pawan Gangwar said.
The same day, the LDA demolition squad also removed encroachments from Chowk. District magistrate Abhishek Prakash said the anti-encroachment drive had been launched to free land from the clutches of land sharks.
Around 12 bighas of land worth ₹7.84 crore has been freed of encroachments in Lucknow so far. Prior to this, the administration carried out a demolition drive in Mohanlalganj, where illegal construction worth ₹1.8 crore was freed from land mafia.
A three-storey building belonging to inspector Jagat Narain Singh, an accused in the murder of Kanpur-based businessman Manish Gupta in Gorakhpur in September last year, was demolished at Devraji Vihar (Chinhat) in Lucknow on April 3.
On March 31, the LDA bulldozed two commercial buildings on Kuntipuram Nahar Road in Jankipuram inside premises of RB Inter College spread over a 5000 sq metre area.
In the same sequence, the LDA bulldozed four shops at Gayatripuram in Gomti Nagar Extension on April 1.
The LDA also bulldozed a three-storey illegal building on 3000 sq metre land on Muazzam Nagar (Campbell Road) on April 3.
Bulldozers roared again on April 5 at Chandiamau in Gomti Nagar Extension where plotting was done without getting the layout approved. The LDA bulldozed three-storey buildings at Salman Garden (lane number 2) on Campbell Road. This building also belonged to a criminal and was constructed without getting the map passed. A fivestorey building on 120 square metre land in New Hyderabad was demolished on April 6.
Bulldozers were also in action at Moon City Colony on April 7. This colony was coming up in zone 3 without getting the layout passed.
LDA secretary Pawan Gangwar said, “The LDA will continue to act against the land mafia and organised criminals as directed by authorities. The rules are there to be followed. Anyone who doesn’t follow rules would face action.”
The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) is also taking action against encroachers, especially encroachments inside parks. The LMC has decided to demolish illegal structures inside Ghantaghar park in Aminabad. Municipal commissioner Ajay Dwivedi said, “Illegal structures and encroachments on government land by the land mafia will be demolished.”
Land worth Rs 250 crore cleared in Kanpur
In the neighbouring Kanpur, the Kanpur Development Authority cleared land worth Rs 250 crore in two weeks in Kanpur.
Besides, the Kanpur Municipal Corporation razed an illegal structure at a hospital owned by the family of a former minister in Yashoda Nagar.
KDA vice-chairman Arvind Singh said the bulldozers would continue to roll in Kanpur.
His actions in Bithoor, the alleged hub of the land mafia, were being much talked about. Similarly, the bulldozers cleared 81,000 sq metres of land on the Sujanpur Kotla Nagar road.
In Farrukhabad, the administration pressed three bulldozers into service to evacuate people encroaching on Muslim graveyards for the last 40 years. In Kannauj, three illegal occupations have been cleared.
Crackdown resumes in Prayagraj
In Prayagraj, the district administration and the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) have led the resumption of the crackdown on illegal properties of criminals and realtors.
Many of the realtors against whom action is being taken are connected to Mafiosi-turned politicians, especially former MP Atiq Ahmad and his younger brother Mohd Khalid Azim aka Ashraf.
On March 28, PDA officials, accompanied by heavy police force, reached Atiq’s ancestral house at Chakia and demolished a boundary wall and some temporary structures like sheds that had been constructed without permission.
PDA zonal officer Alok Pandey said Atiq’s residence was razed on September 22, 2020 as it was constructed without approval of any map. However, a boundary wall and some sheds were again constructed at the site, also without approval.
A notice was sent in this connection to Atiq’s kin. The illegal structures were demolished when they failed to take them down themselves.
PDA has demolished 59 buildings in the action taken against history-sheeters, mafias, gangsters and criminals in the last two years across the district. The buildings included residential houses, farmhouses, marriage halls, schools, lodges and warehouses. Most of the action was taken against ex-MP Atiq, his kin and associates. Buildings owned by gangster Dilip Mishra, former MLA Vijay Mishra and some criminals in Naini, Jhunsi and the industrial area were also demolished as part of this crackdown.
Encroachment on Azamgarh hospital premises razed
In Azamgarh, the district administration demolished encroachments, including a shop, on the premises of the divisional government hospital. A cattle yard on the hospital premises was also removed.
A senior official said district magistrate Amrit Tripathi saw the encroachment near the blood bank and post-mortem house during an inspection.
SDM Jalraj Choudhary said that the debris would be removed and a park will be made for the patients and employees at the spot freed from encroachment.
A probe is also being done into how the encroachment came up on the hospital premises.
BULLDOZERS ROARED AGAIN ON APRIL 5 AT CHANDIAMAU IN GOMTI NAGAR EXTENSION WHERE PLOTTING WAS DONE WITHOUT GETTING THE LAYOUT APPROVED.
From poll talk to action on the ground
The supporters of BJP MLA from Agra South Yogendra Upadhyaya stood atop bulldozers to welcome him after he returned to the city following his induction into the Uttar Pradesh cabinet.
Agra city had witnessed bulldozers in action at Kalwari crossing. Illegal constructions, which had blocked a road for the last five years, were brought down. After the local pradhan lodged a complaint on the chief minister’s portal, bulldozers demolished an illegal godown.
In Etah, panchayat land was freed from alleged encroachment by a politician. Similar action was taken in a village under Jalesar tehsil, also in Etah.
A cold storage owner in Etah district himself came forward to remove encroachment from land. In Kasganj district, government land was freed from encroachment in Sahawar town. District magistrate Harshita Mathur and superintendent of police Rohan Botre supervised the drive.