GREATER NOIDA: The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) said on Sunday that it has launched an anti-encroachment drive on the green belt, freeing around 200,000 square metres (sqms) of land worth an estimated ₹700 crore from encroachers.The anti-encroachment move came following instructions of Yeida’s CEO Rakesh Kumar Singh, and is being carried out under additional CEO Rajesh Kumar Singh. (HT Archive)To begin the drive, the Authority on Saturday freed green zones at two locations. In the first operation at Chapargarh village, Yeida officials freed 50,000 sqm of land worth around ₹250 crore, located on the 60-meter green belt, officials said.Some people had encroached the land which was already acquired by the Authority and whose possession was taken in the past, said officials.The second drive was conducted in the Tappal area of Aligarh district, where another 150,000 sqm of encroached land worth about ₹450 crore, located in Chapargarh, was reclaimed, they added.As part of the action, the Authority’s team on Saturday removed the illegal encroachment and took the land’s possession, they added.The move came following instructions of Yeida’s chief executive officer Rakesh Kumar Singh, and is being carried out under additional chief executive officer Rajesh Kumar Singh.“We have directed the staff to exercise zero-tolerance for illegal occupation and also the construction in Yeida’s notified area. More such drives will follow. Our teams will continue to act against illegal construction and also the encouragement cases,” Singh told HT on Sunday.The Saturday’s action involved three sub-divisional magistrates, along with officers and employees of the Authority’s Project Department, Land Records Department and Enforcement Team, said officials.To maintain law and order during the drive, provincial armed constabulary and heavy police force were also deployed on site, with whose support the action was completed peacefully and successfully, said officials.