G Noida to hold camps to buy farm land for development

With an aim to buy 600 hectares of agricultural land from farmers for industrial use and planned development, the Greater Noida authority will organise 12 camps in the city in two months. The authority will hold the camps at 24 villages from 10.30 am on April 22 to 4.30 pm on May 10, said the officials on Sunday.

The authority has also roped in a private consultant for directly buying land from the farmers willing to do so. According to the officials, the authority will buy land, develop basic facilities including roads, parks, sewer, drains among other services there, and later allot it for industrial purposes.

The officials said that the process for land purchase will be executed following Covid-19 guidelines to keep the staff, farmers, and others involved safe.

Narendra Bhooshan, chief executive officer (CEO), Greater Noida authority, held a meeting with the top officials at his office in Knowledge Park-iv on Saturday, and directed the staff to follow all Covid-19 norms during the process. He also asked the officials to ensure that the land is not bought under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. It leads to a longer land acquisition process, said the officials.

“We will ensure that the farmers, and our staff maintain social distancing at the camps, and digitise the records to keep everyone involved safe,” said Deep Chand, additional chief executive officer, Greater Noida authority.

Farmers, who want to sell their land to the authority for developmental purposes, must carry an agreement letter, land documents, and a certificate to verify that the lands are debtfree. The camps will be organised at villages such as Ladpura, Vaidpura, Sunpura, Bhanauta, and Khodna among others.

We will ensure that the farmers, and our staff maintain social distancing at the camps, and digitise the records to keep everyone involved safe.

DEEP CHAND, addl CEO, Greater Noida authority