After CM rap on ‘long delayed' project, GDA says ready to take over cricket stadium project

Time of India

4 hours ago

Ghaziabad: In the works since 2014, the state's plan to build an international cricket stadium in Ghaziabad is likely to finally see progress after chief minister Yogi Adityanath's intervention.
Stuck primarily due to an impasse over FAR (floor area ratio) between UP Cricket Association and GDA, the 55,000-seater stadium is one of NCR's most delayed projects. Last week, after instructions from the CM to expedite work, GDA said it is ready to take over the Rs 450-crore project within 15 days. It has, so far, been playing a facilitator's role to UP Cricket Association (UPCA).
"On June 26, the CM, while addressing the press in Ghaziabad's Mansarovar Bhawan, said BCCI wanted to make a cricket stadium in Ghaziabad, but due to some reasons, it has not happened.
Subsequently, GDA was directed to acquire land, complete the stadium and manage it too," GDA vice chairperson Atul Vats told TOI. "After a series of meetings with the UPCA's stadium committee convenor, Rakesh Mishra, it was decided GDA will take up the project now.
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The international stadium was conceived in 2014, and over the years, UPCA and BCCI purchased land from farmers with Ghaziabad Development Authority facilitating the deals.
In 2019, CM Yogi Adityanath performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the stadium. There was almost no progress till last March, when BCCI's Rajeev Shukla and former Ghaziabad MP VK Singh laid a foundation stone for the project.
Naresh Chand, a Morti farmer whose land was acquired for the project, said, "Land was purchased from us at a rate of Rs 46 lakh per square yard. Revenue records show the land will be used for a cricket stadium.
We had hoped that once ready, the cricket stadium would encourage youths to take up the sport and push local businesses too. But after so many years, the land lies unutilised."
According to Vats, the construction was delayed as UPCA and GDA sparred over FAR—the built-up area to be allowed—and land use. According to the initial plan, the stadium was to come up on 31 acres. Of this, a 23-acre area was earmarked for the construction of the stadium and the rest was to be used for commercial activities.
"As per GDA's building bylaws, the permissible FAR for land under the recreational green category is 0.1, but UPCA wanted a higher built-up area of 1.2 and 1.5, which is typically allocated for land under mixed use category. It is for the state govt to alter land use categories," Vats said, adding that a proposal to change land use category could not be sent to the state govt over the years pending the sale deeds of the 31 acres acquired for the project.
Mishra, meanwhile, told TOI that they apprised GDA about issues that were holding up the project. "As of today, we can only say that UPCA can still develop the stadium, provided the issues are addressed," he said.