NOIDA: Members of the Confederation of NCR Resident Welfare Association (CONRWA) demanded converting residential land property of Noida Authority from leasehold to freehold, no increase in FAR post-freehold, and establishment of a separate authority for upcoming New Noida, during a meeting with Noida MLA Pankaj Singh over the weekend.
Currently, all plots and flats in Noida are sold on a 99-year lease. Residents have been long demanding freehold rights of their properties under the UP Industrial Act 1976. In 2018, the Noida Authority in its 195th board meeting under the chairmanship of then-chief executive officer (CEO), Alok Tandon, gave in-principle approval for converting Noida properties from leasehold to freehold.
A committee was formed under the chairmanship of then ACEO on Oct 10, 2018, based on which, Tandon sent the recommendation to the state govt on Nov 26, 2018.
PS Jain, president of CONRWA, said the committee had made the recommendations after considering all the potential benefits and losses to the Noida Authority. “The committee recommended setting up a short-term corpus fund on converting the assets of the residential plot from leasehold to freehold, which will be invested or can be a source of recurring income by receiving interest on it,” said Jain.
Further, the residents said once the freehold plan is approved, the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) should not be increased. FAR is a measurement of the relationship between the total floor area of a building and the size of the land it is built on.
“If FAR is increased by the authorities after the flat scheme is announced by the builders, additional flats will be built on top of the towers. This will increase the load on the foundation of the towers as well as the commensurate infrastructure of the city. This would make it dangerous for the people living in the building as well as reduce the open area ratio of the building, thereby compromising the green spaces, air, sunlight, water, parking, and electricity of the city,” said BB Valecha, a member of CONRWA.
Regarding the development of New Noida, the NCR body maintained that a separate authority should be formed for this area. “The current area of Noida is about 200 square kilometres and the population is about 15 lakhs with a total of 163 sectors. At present, there is a huge shortage of staff within the Authority to manage this area. A new CEO, an ACEO, and an OSD should be appointed for New Noida,” said Lokesh Kashyap, another member of the delegation.
MLA Pankaj Singh assured the residents’ body that their demands would be taken up with the concerned authorities as well as the state govt to carve out suitable solutions.
Source Homevior.in
