Noida land deal threat to Yamuna
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13/03/2008
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Tribune (New Delhi)
Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan (YJE) has raised questions about environmental implications of yesterday's land deal in NOIDA, which is being termed as the biggest land deal in the entire country. On Tuesday , BPTP Builders,a Delhi-based group, had bagged a 95-acre commercial plot in sector 94 of Noida for Rs 5,006 crore from the Noida Authority. Substantiating his arguments with the help of a map of NOIDA ,YJE member Manoj Misra says that the map clearly shows that Sector 94, being located in the Yamuna riverbed. The YJE, along with other environmental organisations, has been fighting against the construction of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Village and Delhi Metro infrastructure on the Yamuna riverbed in Delhi. Misra feels that it is most unfortunate that such appropriate land uses designated by earlier planners are currently being changed at will and with impunity by the so-called "developmental' agencies to make short term gains without realising the dangers involved in building upon riverbeds and flood plains. "NOIDA too is in zone 4 in the seismic map of the country. For those not aware of the fact that Amity University campus and JP Greens are also being raised in Sector 94,' he adds. "This appears to be much too obvious and dangerous land scam at the cost of the riverbed lying between the river and the Greater NOIDA Expressway. "One also feels sad about the fact that why are real estate developers so hell bent on developing these risky and dangerous lands in riverbeds / flood plains. Are they so naive of the ground realities or they don't care,' he questions.