Ghaziabad Development Authority issued a notice to Shashi Bhushan Bajaj, president of Indirapuram's Exotica Elegance, to stop the construction of a temple in the society.
The notice, dated September 12, states that the construction work violated Section 14 of Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973. Section 14 prohibits construction on an already-developed land unless permission for such development has been obtained in writing from the authority's vice-chairman.
Also, according to Section 28(1) of the Act:
"Where any development in a development area has been commenced or continued in contravention of the Master Plan or Zonal Development Plan or without the permission, approval or sanction referred to in Section 14 or in contravention of any conditions subject to which such permission, approval or sanction has been granted, then, without prejudice to the provisions of Sections 26 and 27, the Vice Chairman of the Authority or any officer of the authority empowered by him in that behalf may make an order requiring the development to be discontinued on and from the date of the service of the order, and such order shall be complied with accordingly."
Speaking to City Spidey, Bajaj said the temple was being constructed on the demands of a majority of the residents. "We had not sought GDA's approval before proceeding with construction. We have stopped the work since the notice," he added.
City Spidey also spoke to Dayanand Prasad, OSD of GDA, about approval of construction work inside societies. "All they had to do was apply for an approval," said Prasad. "The way they went about it was illegal."
However, he added that despite construction having been stopped, if the AOA sought approval now, the GDA would look into the matter.
The matter does not end here, though. There's another issue, according to Sunil Kumar, zonal Junior Engineer of GDA.
"The partially built temple shed makes use of metal structures and reinforcements," he said. "High-tension cables from the adjacent society's electronic transformer run very close to it. This will pose a huge risk to both the societies if construction of the temple is approved."
The construction of the temple was stopped after GDA's notice