by Mohinder Singh ( 9810069872)
Of late there has been an enormous increase in encroachments on public land by the house owners while building their houses in the sector. Though, before construction, the building plans are approved from the Noida Authority but during the process of construction the laid down procedures are done away with. Earlier, for obtaining completion certificate, the owner had to get an NOC from RWA but this system has also been done away with by the Noida Authority for the reasons best known to them.
The ramp in front of the house used to be built up to certain limits to have an access to vehicles in the house. But these days the ramps are being extended up to the road by covering the whole footpath area with a width equal to the front elevation of the house. The corner plot owners have started building ramps on the side lane also with a gate as big as in the front and a ramp extending to the road. These non-permissible ramps have resulted in bottle necks in the lanes leading to traffic chaos. Many houses have occupied the pavement by installing DG sets, parking sheds and creating green belts. These encroachments have practically left no footpaths and people are constrained to use road by risking their lives. The corner plot owners have made green belts extending up to the road by occupying a big part of the footpath.
These illegal encroachments have given rise to multifarious problems in the sector right from parking to movement of traffic. With no space left on the footpath, the vehicles are parked on half of the road leaving hardly any space for movement of other vehicles. Many a times these problems have been raised by the residents at the level of RWA but these have remained unresolved as these encroachments do not come under their purview. Since 2006, Noida Authority has made stilt parking in the house mandatory without which any building plan will not be approved. But owners having their own stilt parking are still parking their vehicles on the road which is very wrong.
This growing nuisance can be tackled only at residents’ level by instilling a civic sense and by removing such encroachments at their own level. RWA can also request such residents to remove encroachments in peaceful and harmonious manner. I am sure a good sense will prevail on the owners and they will remove their encroachments on their own without waiting for any penal action by the Noida Authority.
It is the RWA’S responsibility to get these encroachments removed either by themselves or through NOIDA. RWA is non functional and crescents don’t complain. Hence ordinary sector residents suffer.