Thousands protest demolition of their houses on FNG e-way
20 Dec 2013 6:03 AM IST
A fortnight after the Noida Authority conducted a demolition drive to remove encroachment on the much-awaited Faridabad-Noida-Ghaziabad (FNG) Expressway, thousands of people, who were evicted, demonstrated in front of the Noida Authority on Thursday.
To speed up work on the FNG, the Authority on 5 December, had demolished more than 800 houses to ease congestion. A team, including an anti-encroachment cell mercilessly removed houses built on the government land that was meant for the expressway. However, protestors claimed that it was the authority which had converted the land into a residential area and so they had bought the land at cheaper rates.
A protestor said, ‘We have become homeless now, we do not have a roof on our top. It was not our fault as we had bought the land and it was an illegal encroachment. We want justice.’
Noida Authority officials had maintained after the demolition that severe action was taken only after the violators did not pay any heed to the Authority’s notices before.
Apparently, because of the slow-paced work on the expressway, the local mafia had illegally sold the land to these innocent people, who had built houses on it.
FNG is one of the most-awaited projects of the Noida Authority, which aims to not only connect three NCR cities but also improve business and realty sector. While there has been much delay already into the project due to protests by farmers, authority CEO Rama Raman now aims to complete it as soon as possible.
To speed up work on the FNG, the Authority on 5 December, had demolished more than 800 houses to ease congestion. A team, including an anti-encroachment cell mercilessly removed houses built on the government land that was meant for the expressway. However, protestors claimed that it was the authority which had converted the land into a residential area and so they had bought the land at cheaper rates.
A protestor said, ‘We have become homeless now, we do not have a roof on our top. It was not our fault as we had bought the land and it was an illegal encroachment. We want justice.’
Noida Authority officials had maintained after the demolition that severe action was taken only after the violators did not pay any heed to the Authority’s notices before.
Apparently, because of the slow-paced work on the expressway, the local mafia had illegally sold the land to these innocent people, who had built houses on it.
FNG is one of the most-awaited projects of the Noida Authority, which aims to not only connect three NCR cities but also improve business and realty sector. While there has been much delay already into the project due to protests by farmers, authority CEO Rama Raman now aims to complete it as soon as possible.
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