Ghaziabad: An 800 sqm plot of GMC land, on which land grabbers were trying to build a boundary wall, was freed after mayor Sunita Dayal conducted an inspection and directed that the encroachments be removed.A GMC official said they were informed that an idol of a Hindu deity had been placed on the land near the upscale Sanjay Nagar district centre ten days ago. The municipal corporation was also told that encroachers were attempting to build a boundary wall on the land. Subsequently, the mayor was asked to conduct an inspection.After ascertaining that the land belonged to GMC, Dayal ordered that the idol be shifted to a nearby temple and the boundary wall be demolished.“GMC land cannot be encroached upon irrespective of whether the illegally made structures are religious or not. In Sanjay Nagar, not only were they planning to usurp the land, they were planning to build a temple not even 50 metres away from an authorised liquor shop. In Uttar Pradesh, liquor shops cannot exist within 50 metres of a temple or a school,” she said, adding that utmost care is being taken during the demolition not to hurt the sentiments of any community.“Last year, I had ordered the demolition of an illegal structure in and around the mazar near Thakurdwara. The structure was demolished but the mazar was left intact,” she said.An inquiry into the encroachment in Sanjay Nagar has been ordered, she added.In May this year, GMC freed 21,000 sqm of land in Noornagar worth Rs 126 crore and 29,610 sqm of land in Arthala with a market value of Rs 75 crore.From June 2023 till May 2026, GMC recovered around 220,000 sqm of land in 42 land parcels from encroachers and land mafia. The recovered land is valued at Rs 880 crore.As per a survey, almost 3,000 acres of land in the district is under illegal occupation in the form of illegal colonies and religious structures. The number of religious colonies has also risen from 321 in 2021 to 351 in 2025.“Anti-encroachment drives are a temporary solution. As a long-term solution, GDA had proposed that registries in these colonies be banned. We have also written to the stamp and registry department on the issue, but so far have not received any response,” said an official.
