On Wednesday, the Yamuna (Yeida) Highway Industrial Development Authority demolished seven illegal housing projects and a hotel near the Noida International Airport site.

The demolition was carried out after the Yeida received complaints that some developers were selling residential land in “unlicensed” projects near the airport site.

The campaign began on Tuesday and ended on Wednesday, involving the authority’s land and engineering department and assisted by Tapapl police.

These housing projects have been dug on land in villages such as Dorpuri, Khadeha and Simrothi, located along the Yamuna highway, about 15 km from the airport site. Officials said developers tried to profit from the airport development and lured innocent buyers in the name of cheap accommodation without any approval from the authority.

According to the Uttar Pradesh Industry Act 1976, no housing project can be developed without approval of construction plans, change of land use and allocation of Yeida.

“These housing projects and the hotel were being developed on approximately 273,656 square meters of land, costing approximately ₹275 crores. We cannot allow such unauthorized projects on our lands notified for planned development along Yamuna highway,” said Arun Vir Singh, Managing Director of Yeida.

Around 2 lakh hectares of land from 1,187 villages in six districts – Gautam Budh Nagar, Bulandshahar, Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura and Agra – have been notified under Yeida.

Apart from that, Yeida appealed to property buyers not to buy residential or other projects, which are not approved according to the rules.

“If a buyer buys plots in such unauthorized projects, then he himself is responsible for the consequences that an unauthorized project faces. We regularly post advertisements and calls for buyers to stay away from such unauthorized projects,” Singh said.

“Buyers should do their due diligence before investing in such projects because we tear down an illegal project as soon as we learn or receive a complaint,” another Yeida official said.