HSVP carries out demolition drive in sector 68, 69 road for third day

HSVP officials said that during the drive spanning for three days, around 120 shanties, six to seven shops, a service station, and two houses that were encroaching on the road alignment near Sohna road were demolished.

The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) continued its demolition drive on Friday to remove the existing structures on the land acquired by the authority for the construction of Sector 68 and Sector 69 main dividing road, said officials.

During the drive on Friday. (ParveenKumar/HT)

HSVP officials said that during the drive spanning for three days, around 120 shanties, six to seven shops, a service station, and two houses that were encroaching on the road alignment near Sohna road were demolished.

HSVP officials said that they have managed to remove around 90 per cent of the encroachments, which will allow the construction work of the master sector road to commence. “The demolition drive has been carried out for the third day and the majority of the land has been cleared. The drive has been carried out under the directions of HSVP, administrator. The bottlenecks in completion of roads across the city are being removed,”said Yogesh Kumar, sub divisional engineer, HSVP, who was also the duty magistrate.

Earlier on Thursday, HSVP officials said that the land in question had been acquired in 2003 and the award of compensation was announced in 2013. The supplementary award of compensation for structures was announced on December 25, after which they made public announcements for owners to vacate the properties.

RS Bhath, district nodal officer, enforcement, who was present during the demolition said that some of the shop owners had asked for time to remove their wares, and they have been granted one day”s time for this purpose. “The remaining structures will be demolished in next few days,” he said.

HSVP officials further said that there were no legal hurdles remaining in the construction of the road, and land would be soon levelled and handed over to the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) for road construction.

Meanwhile, local residents and property owners have opposed the demolition drive, saying that adequate time was not given to them to vacate the properties. Rajesh Yadav, a property owner, said that owners should have been rehabilitated first before carrying out the demolition drive.

As per HSVP officials, the upcoming main sector dividing road of sector 68 and 69 will connect Sohna highway directly and it will reduce traffic congestion on the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR). This is expected to directly benefit approximately 15,000 families living in residential societies in sectors 68, 69, and 70