Noida Authority to look into land allotted to builders

The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the Noida Authority to probe projects carried out under the of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) regimes. The Authority will audit the land allotted to builders, or given to farmers in lieu of their land that was acquired for various projects.

A senior UP government official said that the auditing has been ordered for the period between 2011 and 2016. Mayawati’s BSP ruled from 2007 to 2012, while the Akhilesh government was in power from 2012 to 2017.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had ordered a Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) audit of three industrial development authorities: Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway.

Allegations of corruption

The authorities are facing allegations of irregularities and corruption for making large-scale land allotments to builders at throwaway prices over the past 10 years.

The controversy over allowing CAG access to these authorities had erupted during the UP Assembly election campaign when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had alleged large-scale corruption in the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA).

The erstwhile SP government had denied permission to the CAG to audit the GDA, despite Governor Ram Naik’s intervention in the issue. When the BJP’s Yogi Adityanath came to power, the State government gave its nod for the audit.

Apart from checking procedures, utilisation of funds and progress of projects, the CAG audit may also scrutinise the terms of contracts, agencies and contractors to whom the projects have been awarded.