Noida Authority Board proposes to revise its building byelaws

NOIDA: Following widespread farmers' protest after the Noida Authority Board proposed to revise its building byelaws to include abadi land falling in villages, Rama Raman, Chairperson and CEO of Noida said that they had withdrawn the proposal. Raman said that the proposal would only be implemented after building a consensus of the villagers.

Speaking to TOI, Raman said that his team of officials would soon hold a meeting of village heads to educate them on the necessity of governing building activities for the sake of safety and security of the rural population. Rampant unauthorized constructions are being carried out on village abadi areas and threat of widespread calamity if a natural disaster strikes was another reason for implementing the byelaws. "However, we want the villagers to come forward with their misgivings, suggestions and objections regarding the implementation of the byelaws," said Raman. "We want them to understand that the move is in their own interest. We will implement the byelaws, which are ready to incorporate, only after we receive a consensus," he added.

Raman further said that their objective was not to harass the villagers but to enhance their rural areas through planned development on the lines of residential sectors in the city. "We are also undertaking an exercise to map the rural areas. A pilot project wherein 81 villages are being mapped, is currently underway," Raman explained. "Once in place, each house in the village will be mapped and allotted a particular number using aerial imagery captured by drones. The project is expected to be completed by April next year," Raman said.

According to officials, the Noida Authority had in October last year drawn out a draft of revised byelaws to include village areas. The move had come following reports of a large-scale illegal occupation on such land besides a government order from the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary received on October 20, 2014 restricting all district panchayats from clearing any building layout plans.

Following the decision of the Noida Board earlier this month of making the byelaws optional for villagers, locals from nearly 81 villages had gathered to lodge their protest against the decision. Accusing the Noida Authority of adopting arm-twisting methods, hundreds of villagers had threatened to intensify their stir against the building regulation norms.

SOURCE: ETRealty.com