LUCKNOW, Sept. 4 -- The Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), which routinely cracks down on unauthorised constructions across the city, has itself come under scrutiny after the irrigation department flagged construction of Lucknow Haat near the Gomti riverbank close to Parivartan intersection without obtaining its permission. In an official letter dated June 11, 2026, accessed by HT, the irrigation department's Lucknow Khand-2 division raised objections to construction activity near Shaheed Smarak Park on the right bank of the Gomti. The department said a joint inspection found that the LDA had undertaken construction of Lucknow Haat near the river's berm area without obtaining required departmental permission. When contacted by HT on Thursday, irrigation department executive engineer (Lucknow division) Mukesh Vaish confirmed that multiple notices had been issued to the LDA over the "illegal" construction of these commercial shops. Vaish also said the assistant engineer had issued a fresh notice. He further said the department could not issue an NOC for any commercial activity on the riverbank even in the future. According to an LDA official, the authority gave the land to a private agency through its Request For Proposal (RFP) for a fixed time period. The irrigation department asked the LDA not to continue the construction without securing the requisite permission. It also warned that carrying out work on canal land without permission or obstructing the flow of a canal could attract penal action under the Northern India Canal and Drainage Act, 1873, and provisions cited in the letter under sections 430 to 432 of IPC. The issue also raises questions about the LDA's internal monitoring and coordination. When HT contacted the LDA chief engineer Manvendra Singh about the construction, he said he was unaware of the matter....