Ghaziabad: The Uttar Pradesh government has apprised the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that a high-powered committee under the Ghaziabad district magistrate (DM) has been set up to formulate a rehabilitation scheme for occupants who were served eviction notices for alleged encroachment on the park land in Rajendra Nagar industrial area colony in Sahibabad.
The tribunal was hearing a petition filed by city-based environmentalist Sushil Raghav in 2023, contending removal of encroachment and preservation of the park earmarked at the colony near GT Road in Sahibabad.
During the hearing, on February 17, the UP counsels apprised the tribunal that some of the 172 illegal occupants/houses, built on the park, moved the Allahabad High Court against eviction notices served by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA). The court granted some interim relief.
“He (the counsel for UP) submits that now a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of the DM, Ghaziabad, has been formed to formulate a rehabilitation scheme. He seeks four weeks to place on record the status report and also the rehabilitation scheme, if framed by that time,” the tribunal said in its order of Tuesday, uploaded on Wednesday.
The tribunal will next hear the case on May 28.
As per the tribunal’s earlier direction in the case, the GDA, one of the respondents, had filed a report on May 19, 2025, informing the tribunal about the action initiated against the encroachers/occupants. It stated that 161 show-cause notices were issued in a phased manner against the encroachers, including notices to about 172 houses built in the area. Later, some of those served notices approached the Allahabad High Court in a writ petition seeking relief.
While granting interim relief, the HC directed in its order of July 31, 2025: “Till the next date of listing, the parties shall maintain status quo, qua the disputed property, as of today. Meanwhile, the petitioners are also restrained from creating any third-party interests or undertaking any development on the disputed property.”
The court further observed that the occupants had been occupying the place for the last 40–50 years and belong to weaker sections of society.
“At this stage, we find that some indulgence and reprieve is to be accorded to the inhabitants who belong to the weaker sections of society, and we further direct the authority to ensure the formulation and implementation of a rehabilitation scheme for such persons. On the next date, the scheme shall be provided by the district administration and the GDA,” the court stated in its July 31, 2025 order.