YEIDA’s Policies Under Review for Better Development Planning

                Noida: The Comptroller and Auditor General has found that the urgency clause of the erstwhile Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was misused regularly by Yamuna Expressway Industrial 
Development Authority (YEIDA) when it needed land for its development projects.
In its audit report on YEIDA, covering the period from 2005-21, the central auditor said the urgency clause was invoked extensively to expedite acquisition without providing legitimate 
justification. In numerous cases, it said, these were projects scheduled for completion in three to four years but since the urgency clause was invoked, landowners were deprived of 
their right to be heard.
Despite this expedited approach, land acquisition took time, ranging from 137 days to 1,373 days. It also backfired, with 36 acquisition proposals lapsing due to procedural 
irregularities, resulting in losses of Rs 188 crore, according to the CAG report.
Land was acquired under provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, till Dec 2013 after which govt enacted the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, 
Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, which came into force on Jan 1, 2014. Out of 13,463 hectares acquired by YEIDA during the period 2005-06 to 2020-21, 77% was under 
provisions of the 1894 law.

Of 33 land acquisitions under provisions of the old law test-checked in the audit, 26 were for the development of YEIDA townships and land needed to build Yamuna Expressway. The 
audit found that in 25 out of the 26 cases, the proposals were forwarded between Apr 2008 and Oct 2010.
The CAG also identified several instances where YEIDA acquired land without an immediate requirement or a clear utilisation plan. For instance, in Jahangirpur village, YEIDA 
acquired 53 hectares of land against a requirement of just 35 hectares for a substation. The excess land, acquired at a cost of Rs 93 crore, remained undeveloped.

In Vailana village, the authority purchased 58 hectares of land for Rs 68 crore, even after the cancellation of a mega residential township project, showing the lack of due diligence and 
foresight in its land acquisition strategy, according to CAG. Procedural inefficiencies were seen in duplication of land acquisitions, where YEIDA bought land it had already acquired 
under the Land Acquisition Act. In four documented cases, this oversight resulted in an excess payment of Rs 64 lakh.
The authority, the audit report said, also failed to mutate the title of 149 land parcels purchased directly from landowners, exposing these properties to the risk of illegal transfers. In 
some cases, the landowners mortgaged the acquired land after its purchase, reflecting a severe lapse in monitoring and legal compliance. Delays in the reconciliation of funds 
deposited for land acquisition compounded were cited among instances of financial mismanagement. An amount of Rs 179 crore, deposited with district authorities for compensation, 
remained unreconciled for years. The audit further pointed out that YEIDA forwarded acquisition proposals for 82 hectares of land for villages outside its planned area under Master 
Plan 2031, resulting in a loss of Rs 5 crore due to the subsequent withdrawal of these proposals.
In its reply, YEIDA stated that there were delays in proceedings related to acquisition of land due to farmers' protests and cases filed in courts. It further stated that proceedings related 
to land acquisition are handled by the additional DM (land acquisition) and YEIDA has no role in it.
However, there were various delays on the part of YEIDA, such as revisions in acquisition proposals, forwarding incorrect proposals that later required corrections, and delays in 
depositing the amounts demanded by ADM (LA), which led to delays in handing over possession of the acquired land



 Source : Times of India