Greater Noida building collapse: Shahberi village ghosts are back to haunt local bodies

After the Supreme Court canceled the land acquisition of this village in 2011, many real estate projects had to be canceled and moved to a different location

A six-story under-construction building has fallen on an adjacent building in Shahberi village in Greater Noida, killing at least three people and many are still trapped under the debris. The second building has also collapsed under the impact.

Three persons have been arrested for the collapse of two buildings and a magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident, reports have said.

Reports said that at least 12 laborers were in the under-construction building when the incident took place and all of them were feared trapped. Two bodies were pulled out of the rubble late last night. Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate (DM) Brajesh Narayan Singh has ordered a probe, seeking a report within 15 days.

The spokesperson of the state government has said the probe will ascertain whether both the buildings fell under the jurisdiction of the Greater Noida Authority and whether a no-objection certificate (NOC) was obtained before carrying out the construction. It will also look into the quality of materials used and whether the laborers at the construction site were registered in accordance with the labor laws.

For those who do not remember, Shahberi village was in the eye of the storm during the land acquisition issue that had delayed several real estate projects in Noida Extension in Greater Noida.

“This is the same area, earlier known as Noida Extension, which was in the eye of the storm over the land acquisition issue. It was farmers of this area that had gone to court saying that their land had been forcibly taken away. After the Supreme Court canceled the land acquisition of this village, many real estate projects had to be canceled and moved to a different location,” says Indrish Gupta, co-founder NEFOWA.

At that time, villagers and farmers had gone to court and claimed that their land was for cultivation purpose alone and not for constructing residential projects. But after the land was returned to them, small parcels were sold off to local builders who constructed four to six floors which is illegal, he says.

On May 12, 2011, the Allahabad High Court had struck down the acquisition of 156 hectares of land in Shahberi village of Gautam Buddh Nagar, which was acquired in the name of "planned industrial development of Greater Noida", but was later sold to private builders. The state government's appeal against the High Court was later struck down by the Supreme Court.

On October 21, 2011, the Allahabad High Court had again set aside the acquisition of land in three villages of Noida, Greater Noida, and Noida Extension areas and ordered enhanced compensation to farmers of some other villages in Gautam Budh Nagar district.

The order was passed by a specially-constituted three-judge bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan, S U Khan and V K Shukla on the writ petition of 491 farmers from more than a dozen villages in the district who had challenged the acquisition of more than 3000 hectares of land by the state government. Owners of residential flats that were being developed by private builders in the villages of  Deola, Chak Shahberi, and Asadullahpur were all affected by the ruling.

The court had also ordered in 2011 that "no further construction shall take place in the area unless approval for the same is given by the National Capital Region Planning Board".

It had also taken note of the fact that vast tracts of land in the district were acquired by invoking the urgency clause, for purpose of "planned industrial development", but were later handed over to private builders for construction of residential complexes".

The farmers had objected to the change in "land use" and claimed that while the government's notifications stated "planned industrial development" as the objective of acquiring their land, it was handed over to real estate developers for construction of housing complexes.