After SC paves way, LMC resumes demolition of illegal chambers

The action follows an earlier demolition drive on May 17 on the high court’s directions. The move had triggered protests

Days after the Supreme Court paved the way for the exercise, the civic authorities resumed demolition of 57 allegedly illegal chambers around the Lucknow district court complex on Sunday evening. The action passed off without any protest or confrontation.

The demolition began at 5.10pm after power supply to the area was disconnected. The exercise continued for around 75 minutes. (HT photo)

A police and administrative team reached the spot around 4.30pm, followed by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) with eight bulldozers and heavy vehicles. The demolition began at 5.10pm after power supply to the area was disconnected. The exercise continued for around 75 minutes.

The action follows an earlier demolition drive on May 17 on the high court’s directions. The move had triggered protests. The lawyers had subsequently approached the Supreme Court, but a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta on August 25 declined to entertain the plea, paving the way for further demolition.

Additional municipal commissioner Pankaj Srivastava said the LMC had earlier demolished 72 structures along one stretch and another 14 on Surendra Nath Road in May, taking the total number of structures removed to 143, including the ones in Sunday’s drive.

Lucknow Bar Association general secretary Jitu Yadav said lawyers respected the high court’s order, but maintained that the administration should have provided an alternative place for advocates to sit before removing the chambers.

“We respect the High Court’s decision. Our demand was that the advocates should first be provided a proper alternative space. At present, there is no plan to hold any protest over the issue,” Yadav said.

During an HT visit to the area on Sunday, several owners were seen removing furniture, appliances and other belongings from their structures before the LMC teams carried out the demolition. Some owners had also started dismantling their structures themselves.

The civic body planned to deploy around four heavy earth movers for the operation. The LMC had initially scheduled the demolition drive for around 10.45am on Sunday. However, the civic body could not start the operation as planned. Officials said VIP movement in the city affected police deployment. The civic body subsequently delayed the operation until the evening.

The renewed drive comes ahead of the next court hearing scheduled for the last week of August, with the civic body seeking to remove the remaining encroachments from government land. Earlier, on the directions of the high court, the LMC had issued notices to the occupants of the illegal chambers, asking them to either vacate the structures or establish a lawful claim over the land and construction.