NOIDA: While the administration claims of initiating action against the illegal sale of land in floodplains of Hindon and Yamuna , the area around Hindon tells a harsh story of how land sale has been happening in the area right under the authorities’ nose and continues till date.Residents, who bought land in the Sorkha Jahidabad area four years back told TOI that they bought land through an agent who took commission for the sale deed and were mostly based out of states other than UP.Most of the buyers belong to the lower-middle class including drivers, labourers and lower-rung employees in private companies, who dream of their own dwellings in NCR region and fall prey to the offers of a cheaper plot.Residents are staying in two-storey houses in the area which sustain on power theft and borewells for water supply.“I had bought the land from an agent from Bihar four years back. He offered me a plot of 30 yards at Rs 2,40,000 which was much cheaper than the areas under the Noida Authority,” said Sanjay, who bought land in the Sorkha Jahidabad village in the Hindon floodplain area.“I was introduced to the real owner of the land by an agent. When we went to registry department in Sector 32, we were given all the details about the real owners. The sale deed process took Rs 35,000,” Sanjay said.Sanjay bought land along with five other buyers including drivers who said they knew about the land falling in the floodplains.Another driver, who bought land in the area told TOI that he was aware that the land fell in the floodplains, but bought it because the registry department did not raise any question during the sale deed process.Not only there are buildings and colonies coming up in the floodplain areas, people are also running offices and shops from the areas.A private cab service provider, who was interested in buying a plot for parking purpose in the area, told TOI that he met an agent in one of the offices in the village.“I was told by my drivers that the land is available at a very cheap rate. I spoke to the builder who has an office in the village and he was charging Rs 12,000 for a yard. I could not resist the lucrative offer as a piece of land in posh sectors cost about Rs 90,000 per yard while in areas beyond the Kisan Chowk, it costs about Rs 30,000 per yard,” he told TOI."It is strange that the government registers properties here and talks about stopping construction here. My drivers have been staying here safely despite power and water issues," he said.While the registry department doesn’t check before proceeding with the registries, residents continue to buy land here.Asked about the role of the registry department, DM BN Singh told mediapersons that the role of the department was only limited to the verifying the ownership.“It does not go into the legal part and only checks the ownership of the plot concerned. It is not the registry department’s job to check the building by-laws, whether or not a no objection certificate (NOC) is required for it. The registry department will only check the ownership and process the sale deed of after taking stamp duty,” he said.According to the rules, residential plots cannot come up in the floodplain areas as the Noida and Greater Noida authorities cannot pass a map for any residential construction in the area.

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