Subroto “Sahara” Roy must have been expecting it. After Mulayam’s friends Anil Ambani and Amitabh Bachchan, it was a matter of time before he landed on Mayawati’s chopping board.
The strike has come in the form of a notice issued to Sahara India Housing Ltd (SHIL) over the construction of a multi-storey building in Sahara Shaher spread over 270 acres in Lucknow’s upscale Gomtinagar area.
The notice, which comes under Section 27 of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act 1974, demands to know why the construction is taking place without approval from the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), the city’s urban development agency.
Harbhajan Singh, LDA Vice-Chairman said: “The plan for the building has not been passed. The group has to explain how it is constructing a building without approval.” But more is at stake.
The company was leased out 100 acres of prime land by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government for payment of Rs one lakh per annum. The market value of the land is many times over that. The LDA is now expected to investigate the procedure adopted for the questionable allotment.
The notice has thus been served under a section that supersedes all earlier provisions and specifies that no development can take place without LDA permission.
According to Sahara India Parivar head of corporate communications Abhijit Sarkar, “The constructions are in accordance with the Master Plan 2021 and the layout plan was prepared after a joint inspection with the LDA officers. The plans are pending with the LDA since November 2006.” This is not the first time that the land is under a cloud.
In 1998, the Kalyan Singh government was determined to scrap the deal and then LDA vice-chairman Prabhat Kumar had served notice to Sahara India to demolish “illegal structures” erected on 170 acres of Sahara Shaher, citing violation of the city’s Master Plan. The deal was also called into question as the land lies in a green belt.
Earlier this year, the Mulayam Singh Yadav cabinet gave Sahara Shaher a clean chit by absolving the group of any violation of the Master Plan.
Soon after being sworn in, Mayawati had declared that all “controversial” decisions of the erstwhile government would be probed.
The builder has been asked to reply to the notice by June 8.
With its para-banking and aviation businesses facing turbulence, this notice will only compound Sahara India’s problems.