GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has initiated a probe against the developer of Supertech Estate in Vaishali for allegedly carving out 110 additional flats from bigger units. The developer was also found to have constructed flats in an area marked as a green belt in the original layout.
The builder, GDA said, had got the project map sanctioned in 2003 and was given the permission to construct 247 flats across 10,120sqm. The development authority came to know about the illegal flats recently after the local RWA approached it for permission to hold elections. An inspection revealed that the project had 357 units, and not 247 as mentioned in the original plan.
“An inspection was carried out after residents alleged that the developer had carved out many more flats from bigger ones. Our survey revealed that the realtor had not only built additional units but also encroached on a 117.3sqm green belt by carrying out constructions there as well,” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, the GDA secretary.
It has also come to the fore that the developer had approached the GDA in 2009, admitting it had built extra flats and urging the authority to regularise them. But neither were the flats regularised, nor was any action taken against the builder.
“This means that the enforcement wing of GDA was in the know of things for so many years. We now have to investigate if officials were negligent then,” Singh said.
A representative of the builder said he was not aware of the additional flats. “Please share with me a copy of the letter where the GDA has recommended an investigation,” he told TOI.
Residents of Supertech Estate said the alleged fraud would not have come to light had the GDA not carried out a recounting of the number of flats for facilitating RWA polls. “We approached the GDA recently because we were having issues in holding the RWA elections. It was then that we learnt that the developer had carved out 110 small flats from bigger units,” a resident said.
Singh, meanwhile, urged buyers to check project details — like map sanctions, green area and so on — before investing in a flat.
“If a developer takes buyers for a ride and violates the layout, the onus is as much on them as it is on the GDA. Everyone should verify project details before putting in their hard-earned money,” he added.
The Allahabad high court had recently criticised the GDA after a developer in Indirapuram was found to have constructed 134 more units than the sanctioned strength of 536.
