Demolition drive to resume in Faridabad’s Khori village from Monday

The residents were given two months’ time to remove their belongings from the area and this move has been taken to reclaim the forest land from them, officials of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad said. At present, nearly 200 families live in the village

The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) from Monday will start a demolition drive at Khori village, settled on Aravalli forest land, once again to remove the remaining residents there, said officials on Saturday.

Nearly 6,600 dwelling units in Khori village have been razed by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad over the last few months as the illegal colony was encroaching 150 acres of the Aravalli forest land. (Vipin Kumar/HT)

The residents were given two months’ time to remove their belongings from the area and this move has been taken to reclaim the forest land from them, they added. At present, nearly 200 families live in the village.

Yashpal Yadav, commissioner of MCF, said, “After the demolition drive was completed at Khori village earlier this year, some people were allowed to stay there as they had said they would remove the construction and demolition waste on their own. But the residents continued to live there in temporary households. We will start a demolition drive from Monday to remove their temporary houses.”

On Wednesday, MCF teams had visited the area for inspection and informed the residents to vacate the area within this week.

Nearly 6,600 dwelling units in Khori village have been razed by the MCF over the last few months as the illegal colony was encroaching 150 acres of the Aravalli forest land.

On June 7, the Supreme Court fixed a six-week deadline to remove the 6,600 structures in the Khori Gaon colony, and directed the MCF to act, without exception, against all the unauthorised structures on the forest land.

Members of Mazdoor Awaas Sangharsh Samiti (MASS), an organisation working for rehabilitation of the residents of Khori village, said that the people were staying there as proper rehabilitation had not been provided to them. Nirmal Gorana, convener of MASS, said, “We condemn the decision of the authorities. This is for the second time in months that these families will be displaced. The authorities have not started allocating flats to the displaced residents, who have applied for flats as part of the rehabilitation policy, yet. First, an alternative arrangement should be made and then only any action should be taken.”

The rehabilitation policy issued by the government proposes to house the residents of Khori Gaon at the economically weaker section (EWS) flats at Bapu Nagar and Dabua Colony in Faridabad. To be eligible for this, residents need to show either a Pariwar Pehchan Patra (PPP) of an adult member of the house, an election ID card of the Badkhal constituency, or an electricity bill of their premises at Khori Gaon. The MCF has identified at least 899 applicants to be eligible for the rehabilitation scheme.

To add MCF quote on rehabilitation