Expedite land acquisition for Harnandipuram Township, UP CM tells GDA

Ghaziabad: During his visit to Ghaziabad on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Namo Bharat corridor on Sunday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath reviewed the Harnandipuram township project and asked GDA officials to expedite the land acquisition process.According to a GDA official, the project is being developed under the CM Urban Expansion New City Promotion Scheme, and Rs 400 crore in funds has been allotted by the state govt."Since the process of land acquisition for the township is underway, the chief minister inquired about the progress being made in that direction. The chief minister was informed that, under the mutual agreed rate clause, registries of more than 35 hectares of land were already done, and consent was sought from farmers for the remaining land parcels," the GDA official said.To expedite new township projects being taken up under the scheme, the state govt gave the development authority board rights to change land use. In Harnandipuram, around 80% of land is under the agricultural land use head, and with the new policy in place, GDA will now have sweeping powers to change the land use. Earlier, to change land use, development authorities had to seek permission from the state govt.GDA plans to develop Harnandipuram township in phases. In the first phase, the development authority has set a target to acquire 336 hectares from three villages — Mathurapur, Shamsher, and Nangla Feroze Mohan Nagar.As for the land bank, GDA has already executed registries for 35 hectares of land, while it received consent from farmers for another 85 hectares of land. Additionally, LMC land will be assimilated. The land bank thus created will be good enough for the launch of the first phase of the township, officials said.