GDA completes Rs. 200 crore Fund Collection from Flat & Plot Owners in Vaishali

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) board has approved a proposal to collect Rs. 200 crore from flat and plot owners in Vaishali, nearly 36 years after the land was acquired for the township. This decision was taken during a board meeting in Meerut on Monday, where several issues impacting property owners in Ghaziabad were addressed.

One significant decision was to defer the implementation of mandatory structural audits for multi-storey buildings until discussions with members of Credai, a developers’ association, are held.

The move to collect Rs. 200 crore arises from a decades-old land acquisition dispute.

Between 1986 and 1989, GDA acquired 453 acres of land from farmers at a rate of Rs. 50 per square yard. In 1991, dissatisfied with the compensation, the farmers moved the district court, which ruled in their favor and raised the rate to Rs. 160 per square yard in 2001.

GDA challenged this verdict in the Allahabad High Court, but the court further increased the compensation to Rs. 297 per square yard in 2017. The development authority later approached the Supreme Court in 2019, but the apex court upheld the previous decision, directing GDA to file a review petition in the Allahabad High Court. However, the review did not bring any relief.

As a result, GDA is now obligated to pay the enhanced compensation of Rs. 297 per square yard to the farmers. “The total amount, approximately Rs. 200 crore, will be recovered from the original flat and plot owners in Vaishali,” said GDA Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. The decision is expected to have a significant impact on property owners in the area.