Two days after their demolition drive in Phase 4 was halted due to protests by area residents, the municipal corporation (MC) and the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) have announced that a joint anti-encroachment campaign in residential and market areas will begin on December 1.
Authorities have already issued final public notices, giving encroachers three days to remove the illegal structures on their own. If they fail to do so, officials will carry out the removals and recover the charges from the violators.
A senior civic officer said the joint operation will begin in Phase 4, followed by Phase 5 and Phase 6. The encroachments primarily include grilles and corner fencing installed by residents on berms outside their houses.
On November 27, Phase 4 witnessed high tension as residents objected to the sudden action, leading officials to temporarily halt the drive. Councillors Davinder Kaur Walia and Rupinder Reena, along with Phase 4 youth leader Navin Sandhu, joined the residents in opposing the move, calling the demolition drive “unjustified”.
Residents and councillors argued they were not against complying with court orders but said the administration launched the drive without prior notice or time to comply, resulting in unnecessary confrontation and damage. They claimed that if the administration intended uniform enforcement, the drive should have started from Phase 1. “Had residents been given a few days, they would have removed the grilles themselves, and no confrontation would have happened,” they said.
{{/usCountry}}Residents and councillors argued they were not against complying with court orders but said the administration launched the drive without prior notice or time to comply, resulting in unnecessary confrontation and damage. They claimed that if the administration intended uniform enforcement, the drive should have started from Phase 1. “Had residents been given a few days, they would have removed the grilles themselves, and no confrontation would have happened,” they said.
{{/usCountry}}However, MC commissioner Parminder Pal Singh Sidhu clarified that the action was being carried out strictly in line with a 2022 Punjab and Haryana high court order. He said due to the lack of firm enforcement by MC and GMADA over the past two years, the matter escalated to contempt proceedings.
He urged residents to voluntarily remove their grilles to avoid damage and reiterated that there was no bias in the operation. Sidhu added that the same rules will be applied uniformly across Mohali and that the anti-encroachment drive will cover the entire city within the next 15 days.