Greater Noida development body to select architects for its own projects

GREATER NOIDA: The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) will shortlist a bunch of architecture firms for urban planning and designing.

The authority will take the help of experts for site evaluation, designing of buildings and infrastructure projects, structural audit and for putting up signage, lights at crossings, and intersections, as well as for landscaping and maintaining the overall character of the place.

Chief executive officer, GNIDA, Narendra Bhooshan, said the firms are being shortlisted so that they can be empanelled. “Once we are able to select the companies after evaluating their background and expertise, we will be able to appoint them directly for designing our own projects. Apart from flyovers, underpasses and new industrial blocks, we also have to provide common amenities to residents,” he said.

Having a staff strength of less than 275, GNIDA has outsourced several operations to contractual workers and vendors. Officials said the planning division is acutely short-staffed, with five officials available for architecture and urban designing work.

Apart from 200 residential projects, the authority has more than 54,000 allottees who have bought plots for building houses, industries, commercial establishments and other institutional establishments. Several people have also taken plots under the Kisan Abadi Scheme. “The existing planning team is overburdened because, apart from fresh applications, it also has to scrutinise building plans of existing allottees who want to expand their units,” said a senior official. “They do not get time to work on projects being undertaken by the authority and we have to hire consultants for that,” he added.

The authority is also planning to make provisions to set up an educational institution and hospitals in its area, officials said.