Farmhouses, jhuggis near Sainik Farm demolished in DDA drive in South Delhi

The drive was carried out with the assistance from Delhi Police and in the presence of forest officials, targeted multiple land parcels in village Maidangarhi.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Thursday said it had carried out a demolition drive to remove “unauthorised construction” within the boundary of Tilpath Valley Biodiversity Park, near Sainik Farm in south Delhi,as part of efforts to reclaim government land and strengthen the park’s green cover.

Demolition activities were undertaken across several plot (khasra) numbers, representational image. (PTI)

According to officials, the drive, carried out with the assistance from Delhi Police and in the presence of forest officials, targeted multiple land parcels in village Maidangarhi that fall within the notified limits of the biodiversity park. Demolition activities were undertaken across several plot (khasra) numbers. “Approximately 70% of the affected area (about 83 acres) was recovered. Around 12 acres of land, comprising 23 farmhouses, were demolished and cleared,” DDA said in a statement.

However, residents in the area claimed the DDA officials arrived around 5am and demolished only parts of two farmhouses and some jhuggis.

The DDA further said that approximately three acres of land, involving seven farmhouses, could not be cleared due to active judicial stay orders issued by the high court.

“The action forms part of ongoing efforts to protect ecological assets, safeguard government land, and expand the green cover of Tilapth Valley Biodiversity Park,” the statement said.

President of Western Avenue Residents’ Welfare Association in Sainik Farm, Hardeep Singh, said, “DDA has been claiming that the land belongs to its horticulture department but there is an ongoing case. In a clandestine manner, they arrived at dawn and broke down two farmhouses. The owners got fresh stay orders on the proceedings by 10.30 am, soon after the court opened, but DDA had done most of its job by then.”

One of the affected home owners said he has been living there for the past 28 years. He added that the claims of the area being part of forest land started only about seven years ago and the issue has been in dispute since then.

“Initially we got notices from the forest and revenue departments. In 2019, they demolished part of our boundary wall but we got stay orders against both departments. They now changed tactics and sent notices through the DDA’s horticulture department before carrying out the drive,” said Rajeev Wadhwa, one of the affected owners.

He said the action is illegal as the matter is in court.

“In this area, there are overlaps with the forested areas. We have been asking DDA to conduct a physical survey for demarcation for years but they have refrained from it. They claim that a satellite survey has been done, but there is no demarcation yet and ambiguity continues,” said Wadhwa.

Tilpath Valley Biodiversity Park, located along the southern ridge, is part of a network of biodiversity parks developed to restore degraded forest land.