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Khori residents continue protests

BySuparna Roy, Gurugram
Jun 14, 2021 11:25 PM IST

Over a 100 women residents of Khori village in Faridabad’s Aravallis continued their protest on Monday, demanding rehabilitation before eviction from the area, as the administration prepares for a demolition drive.

Over a 100 women residents of Khori village in Faridabad’s Aravallis continued their protest on Monday, demanding rehabilitation before eviction from the area, as the administration prepares for a demolition drive.

Over a 100 women gathered to protest on Monday.
Over a 100 women gathered to protest on Monday.

Residents said that demolishing their houses without rehabilitating them during the pandemic is “similar to a death sentence” for them.

A protester, who did not wish to be named, said, “My husband works as a labourer, and he has not had steady income for the past one and half years. Because we all live together here, my family has been able to survive by taking help from each other, now if our houses are demolished, we don’t know how we will survive.”

Nirmal Gorana, general secretary, Bandhu Mukti Morcha, an organisation that is taking up the cause of the residents, said, “The Supreme Court has ordered eviction, but the government should follow the order in a planned manner and not put the villagers on the clock, who are already standing on the last rung of the society. It will be an injustice if they are not provided proper rehabilitation.”

On June 7, the Supreme Court ordered the eviction of thousands of slum dwellers encroaching on the Aravalli forest area in Faridabad district, holding that there cannot be a compromise or concession on forest land.

The Faridabad police, in a statement released on Monday, said that they are fully prepared to conduct the demolition drive while maintaining law and order.

According to the statement, Anshu Singla, the deputy commissioner of police (NIT), said, “The police administration is fully alert so that the law and order situation is not disturbed in any manner during removal of encroachment in Khori village.”

Giving instructions to police personnel on Monday, Singla said that during the demolition drive, all police personnel will be deployed with anti-riot equipment to overcome any kind of situation and action will be taken against those creating chaos.

Officials from the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad said that the demolition drive will be conducted within six weeks, as stipulated by the Supreme Court.

Garima Mittal, commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Faridabad, said, “The district administration, police and MCF are working in coordination. The Supreme Court’s orders will be strictly followed, and encroachments will be removed within the six weeks given by the court. The final details of removing encroachments are being discussed internally and we will take action soon.”

The MCF was scheduled to conduct the demolition drive from June 15-18. However, the commissioner did not confirm this on Monday. Last Wednesday, the MCF had requested the district administration to provide 2,000 constables, including 500 women constables, for the demolition drive from June 15-18.

Meanwhile, environmentalists are demanding that all encroachment must be demolished, and not just houses in Khori village. Environmentalists said that the human cost per acre of reclaiming Aravalli land from commercial enterprises will be negligible (as the properties are not inhabited) compared to a village like Khori, where over 100,000 people will be displaced.

Chetan Aggarwal, a city-based environmentalist said, “Khori has about 10,000 houses on 100-odd acres. If each house has six people, that means 600 people per acre. The human cost of reclaiming Aravalli land from real estate here is the displacement of about 600 people per acre. Whereas, other nearby villages, like Mewla, Ankhir and Anangpur, have more than a hundred farmhouses running commercial enterprises or religiopolitical enterprises. There are hardly any people living there and the human cost per acre of reclaiming Aravalli forests in these hill areas will be negligible.”

“If encroachments are to be removed, then it should be done for the whole of Aravallis and not just one village where the poor people are trying to survive in small plots of land,” said Agarwal.

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