Noida begins crackdown against illegal structures
NOIDA: Facing criticism from the Supreme Court in the Supertech twin tower case, the Noida authority has launched a crackdown against illegal constructions in group housing complexes.
On Saturday, the authority demolished some illegal flats in Assotech Windsor Court, a housing society in Noida’s Sector 78, officials said.
The authority had in 2012 allotted plot number 04A in Sector 78 for the group housing project, and approved maps of five towers in which stilt parking at ground floor was allowed. However, the developer, Assotech Private Limited, built offices and flats in two stilt floors in tower H and F, said the authority officials.
The officials said that some residents of the society filed repeated complaints against the illegal flats and constructions.
As the illegal flats and offices are located at the ground floor, the authority is using JCB machines to demolish the unauthorised structures, the officials said, adding that the demolition
work is being done cautiously to avoid any damage to other buildings in the complex.
“Despite several notices, the developer did not demolish the illegal structures. Therefore, we started removing them on Saturday. The demolition work will continue for some days,” said Mukesh Vaish, senior manager of the Noida authority who is leading the demolition drive.
The developer had built two
offices and eight flats in these two towers in the stilt parking area against the approved map. “We have demolished the illegal office space and five flats. The other three flats are sold and locked by the flat owners. We have given a week’s time to these flat owners to vacate so that we can demolish the three flats too,” said Vaish.
According to the officials, selling units more than approved in a building map is cheating. “Since the developer has sold these flats without registry, the other legal issues pertaining to illegal sale will come at the stage of execution of registry. But selling illegal flats is also a grave offence as it affects innocent buyers,” said another authority official, not authorised to speak to media.
Assotech Group promoter Sanjiv Srivastav said, “We are filing a reply to the Noida authority’s notice in this regard.”
The officials further said that the authority is also identifying illegal construction in other housing societies, where the approved maps are being violated. “We cannot reveal the society names now, but the action will be taken against each one found violating the norms,” said the official.
On August 31, the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of Apex and Ceyane towers in Supertech’s Emerald Court project in Noida over grave violation of building norms. The court said the violation was a result of “nefarious complicity” between the Noida authority and the real estate developer.