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Chandigarh: Protesting residents derail demolition drive
At a time when Chandigarh administration announced its plans for a demolition drive to vacate Colony 4, Industrial Area, authorities on Sunday had to abruptly cancel a similar operation in Khuda Jassu and Khuda Lahora after strong opposition from locals
At a time when UT administration announced its plans for a demolition drive to vacate Colony 4, Industrial Area, authorities on Sunday had to abruptly cancel a similar operation in Khuda Jassu and Khuda Lahora after strong opposition from locals.
A day after demolishing around 200 shanties in Kishangarh area, Manimajra, a UT estate office team reached Khuda Jassu and Khuda Lahora at around 8 am on Sunday to demolish illegal constructions in the two villages.
Residents, however, put up roadblocks by parking tractors on the road and a large crowd gathered on the spot where the drive was supposed to start from, forcing the team to return without demolishing the illegal constructions.
In addition, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party leaders also reached the spot demanding cancellation of the drive.
An estate office’s enforcement wing official said, “We reached the village early in the morning to demolish the illegal construction, but a lot of people gathered on the spot. Due to which we had to cancel this drive, and will schedule it for some other day.”
Chandigarh Mahila Congress president Deepa Dubey, who came to the protest site, meanwhile, demanded that the BJP government should stop harassing the public, saying, “If an attempt is made to run bulldozers on the houses of the general public in Chandigarh, then we will completely oppose it..
“The administration reached with a bulldozer to break down houses, but where were the officials of the administration when these houses were registered and they were given electricity and water metres. Even electricity and water bills have been collected from these people for so many years,” she added.
Colony 4 residents resist eviction
Despite the completion of three-months eviction notice period and latest directions issued to Colony 4, Industrial Area Phase 1 residents to vacate the land, not many have left the area.
“Nearly 10,000 people in the colony are still living here. Very few have taken their belongings to safer places, but even these families are still in possession of their houses,” Rajinder Yadav, a local resident and AAP secretary, said.
The residents have pegged their hopes on resolution or re-settlement offer from the administration. “The administration has more than 700 vacant houses under rehabilitation and rental schemes. They should adjust colony residents who are eligible for the re-settlement as per the biometric surveys conducted by the administration,” Yadav pointed out.
Notably, AAP had come out in support of the residents and held a demonstration on Friday against the imminent demolition drive.
The administration has made repeated attempts to get the land vacated in the last three years. Around 4,000 families have already been allotted flats at the rehabilitation colony in Maloya under the Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme 2006.
In a previous attempt to vacate the land in 2019, the administration had issued eviction notices directing residents to vacate the land within 21 days. The demolition drive, however, was never initiated due to Covid pandemic and MC elections.
