Multi-crore scam alleged in Ghaziabad authority

GHAZIABAD - A former board member of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) Wednesday alleged a multi-crore rupee scam in plot allotment by officials of the civic body.

Giving details of the alleged scam at a press conference here, Rajendra Tyagi claimed that over 130 plots in the premium Swarnajayanti Puram scheme had been fraudulently allotted to individuals by senior officials in connivance with property dealers.

He said he had sent documents regarding the same to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. Copies of these were also displayed at the press conference.

The GDA had floated a scheme for 1,553 residential plots of 90, 112, 150 and 200 sq. metres in the posh Swarnajayanti Puram area in 1997, Tyagi said.

In a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) petition, the GDA Nov 11, 2007, informed him that 133 plots were disputed hence were sold without floating the scheme, which he alleged was in violation of GDA rules.

In addition to such allotments, the GDA between 1997 and December 2007 deemed as forfeited the initial deposit amount of the applicants who did not deposit their instalments within time.

The plots of such defaulters that fell vacant were then offered for allotment in the next schemes, again in violation of GDA rules, he alleged.

Also, the cancelled plots were reinstated on the old circle rates of Rs.2,725 per sq. metre as against the increased market rate of Rs.12,000-15,000 per sq metre, causing a massive loss to the authority, he said.

He also said that the officials charged Rs.4-7 lakh on each reinstated plot that constituted 50 percent of the cost of a plot.

While the GDA claimed there were 188 such vacant plots of various sizes that were reinstated, in actual, there are more than 300 plots that are still being offered by these officials, he said.

According to him, the scam runs into several hundred crores of rupees.

He said many officials of the GDA live in Swarnajayanti Puram as they were easily allotted plots, while most other plots were sold to builders for constructing multi-storeyed apartments, in gross violation of the GDA’s own building by-laws.

Tyagi demanded a CBI enquiry into the alleged scam.

When contacted, GDA vice chairman Narendra Kumar Chaudhary said: “All charges would be investigated properly. If found true, action would be taken against those responsible.”