Greater Noida flat owners worried

A day after the Supreme Court upheld the Allahabad High Court’s decision of annulling the acquisition of farmland in Greater Noida’s Sahberi village, flat-owners are worried as more villagers in adjacent villages decide to challenge the acquisition of their land.

“I have taken compensation for some portion of my land, but we have already approached the Allahabad High Court for a stay order,” says Sunder, a resident of Havatpura village, near Sahberi.

The villagers who accepted the compensation say they gave the land for industrial purposes, as it would generate employment opportunities. Now, in the absence of any industry, they are approaching the court to reclaim their land.

“When the land was forcefully taken from us, we were told industry will come up, but the government instead sold it to builders. Now, I don’t want better compensation, but just my land. My employment is dependent on it,” says Ramchander, who accepted compensation for a portion of his land.

On Wednesday, the SC had asked the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) to return 390 acres of farmland to farmers and imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on it. The order is expected to hurt the industry sentiment, since around Rs 1,200 crore is riding on about 6,000 flats being built in Sahberi. The developers have already spent more than 20-25 per cent of their cost estimate on land. The developers that have presence in Sahberi are Supertech, which has 10 acres in Sahberi; Mahagun, with 25 acres; and Gaursons with five acres.

An anxious Rajiv Aggarwal, an IT professional in Noida, says he bought a home in Greater Noida, to live near his office, but now he wants his money back as he is not sure about the future.

“We interviewed a few people in the villages and they said if villagers in Sahberi are getting a better deal than us, they will also go and challenge the land acquisition. I am worried and I have asked the builder to return my money,” says Aggarwal.