GB Nagar admin to acquire land in Sec 151 for new golf course

Owing to the farmers’ refusal to sell their land for the golf course, the work on this project has been halted for the long time, prompting the Noida authority to seek the help from the district administration to acquire the required land using provisions of the Land Act 2013-14, said officials.

“As the social impact assessment survey has been completed for this land in Kambakshpur village, we are likely to enforce Section 11 as per the laid down procedures. The expert group will now organise the hearing in the affected village after giving adequate awareness about the date, time and place for the public hearing. We want to hear the affected farmer families’ views during this process. Subsequently, we will publish the social impact survey report for the understanding of land owners or farmers,” said Bachchu Singh, additional district magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar (land and acquisition).

The administration said it is likely to acquire the required land in the next six months because there is no need to seek the consent of farmers and the Noida authority already has possession of more than 70% of land required for the project.

“Once this process related with the social impact survey is completed and farmers’ views about it is sought, we will invite objections from farmers under Section 15 so that they can file their objections if any against the land acquisition. We hope that the process will not take much time because we are in the advanced stages now,” said Singh.

In June 2021, the authority had roped in a private company to develop the golf course in Sector 151A along Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.

According to officials, the authority had approved a tentative budget of ₹90 crore for developing the golf course at Sector 151A during its 198th board meeting in February 2020. The project includes a 90-acre golf course, a 20-acre adventure sports facility, and a 10-acre heliport.

The authority now wants to incorporate many additional features to ensure that the project adheres to international standards and these changes in the interiors led to the increase of the funds.

“We tried to talk to the farmers, whose land is coming in the way of the golf course but they refused to give us the land. Therefore, we had to take help from the Gautam Budh Nagar administration that will now acquire the land and hand it over to us so that we can complete the project,” said a Noida authority official, asking not to be named.

A Kamkashpur farmer Kapil Singh said, “We do not have any issue in giving the land to the Noida authority but the big issue is that compensation against the land is way too less as compared to the market rate. If the authority will not offer the justified rate to us, then we will register our disagreement during the social impact survey process.”