Residents protest as Khyber Pass demolition continues in Delhi

Bulldozers rolled down the lanes of Khyber Pass in Civil Lines tearing down illegally constructed double-storey brick and mortar houses as the Land and Development Office (L&DO) continued a demolition drive in presence of heavy deployment of police personnel

Bulldozers rolled down the lanes of Khyber Pass in Civil Lines tearing down illegally constructed double-storey brick and mortar houses as the Land and Development Office (L&DO) continued a demolition drive in presence of heavy deployment of police personnel.

Demolition drive at Khyber Pass on Sunday. (Arvind Yadav/HT photo)

Residents of Khyber Pass, meanwhile, complained that they were not provided enough time to relocate.

The drive also led to traffic being affected on Ring Road from Mall Road to Vidhan Sabha metro station, Delhi Traffic Police said. Vehicles travelling from Mall Road and heading towards IP college were diverted towards Timarpur and Outer Ring Road.

L&DO department, which falls under the Union housing and urban affairs ministry, had earlier cleared almost 15 acres of land in Khyber Pass on July 13 under the previous leg of the demolition drive. The land is owned by L&DO and it was given to the Union defence ministry in 1935, according to officials at L&DO.

The eviction was first started in March but later stayed by Delhi high court in July 9, and was resumed later that month. On Sunday, the demolition drive was being carried out right next to Civil Lines police station.

Residents, meanwhile, said that they had been living in these houses from decades. Kamla Singh (60), whose house was razed, sat next to the Ring Road with her belongings out in the open.

“I have raised three generations in this house, my husband died 26 years ago, this house was all I had, now I have nothing.” She added that she had no means of earning, and nowhere to go.

While many occupants claimed that due process was not followed before the demolition drive as it was only “announced two days ago”.

Faiz Ansari (21) another resident said “all these notices were plastered just a few days before the demolition notice far away from where we live.”. He added that five-six police personnel came two days ago and intimated that the houses should be vacated within 24 hours, leaving them with no option to appeal.

Ganesh (40), who runs a cellphone repair shop in the area said: “I had invested close to ₹12 lakh in this home only two months ago, we paid all the bills on time, we had all the necessary documents even then there was no respite for us.” He added that his eviction notice was dated 5 August, but he had to take out his belongings as the demolition started one day before.

The matter of encroachments over Khyber Pass is a long-pending issue. Earlier this year, residents had approached the HC challenging a March 1 notice issued by the L&DO, ministry of housing and urban affairs, directing occupants of 32 acres of Khyber Pass to vacate “all unauthorised occupation and remove illegal construction from the land immediately” by March 4. While an interim stay was granted by the court of Justice Subramonium Prasad, in a verdict dated July 9, he refused to quash the L&DO notice.

L&DO officials did not comment. A notice from L&DO dated August 1 states that the eviction and demolition drive is being carried out at Khyber Pass as per the orders passed by the high court on July 9 and July 29.