Farmers are raising illegal structures in haste because the government gives more compensation for land that has buildings as such land is considered “abadi”

The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has issued notices to 200 farmers who have begun erecting illegal structures on land notified for phase 2 of the Noida airport project, officials aware of the matter said on Sunday. The farmers have been given notice that their illegal structures will be demolished and they will have to pay for the demolition work, they added.

According to officials, the farmers are raising the illegal structures in haste because the administration gives more compensation for land that has buildings or structures as such land is considered “abadi”. However, this benefit is given to those farmers who built such houses or structures before their land was acquired for development projects. If a farmer builds anything after the land is evaluated and notified by the government, it is an illegal act, officials said.

The Noida International Airport in Jewar in Gautam Budh Nagar district is expected to become operational by the end of 2024. Phase 1 of the airport will cater to 12 million passengers annually which will increase to 70 million passengers under phase 4. The matter of the farmers’ illegal structures pertains to land notified for phase 2 of the airport. The land is 1,363.45 hectares of which 1,185.69 hectares is private land spread across the six villages of Karoli Bangar, Kureb, Mundhera, Birampur, Dayanatpur, and Ranhera. At least 3,800 families are likely to be displaced due to the land acquisition. The land will be acquired at a cost of ₹2,891 crore of which the Gautam Budh Nagar administration has already received ₹1,084 crore from the Uttar Pradesh government. The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration began acquiring the land for phase 2 in October 2022.

“We have issued notices to at least 200 farmers once we learnt that they are building structures on their land,” said Balram Singh, additional district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar for land acquisition

“We have told the farmers that if they raise any construction now, they will face action. They will not get more money for their construction. We will demolish these illegal structures and the cost of demolition will be borne by the farmers,” said Singh.

“We have appealed to the farmers through public notices that they must not build new structures on land notified for developmental work,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority.