In a major anti-encroachment drive held in the state capital, the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) on Saturday demolished over 60 illegal encroachments in the Transport Nagar area of Dehradun.
According to officials, two teams of MDDA constituted for the purpose reached the spot and carried out the demolition activity with the help of the police force. The activity was going on at the time of filing this report.
MDDA secretary Prakash Chandra Dumka said that a number of encroachments including pukka constructions and shops had come up on public land in Transport Nagar area over the past years. The squatters were identified last week and were given prior notice before the demolition.
“We had identified the encroachments and had issued notices to the encroachers about a week ago, asking them to remove the encroachments on their own. While around 25% people abided by the notices and went ahead with bringing down their own illegal constructions and other structures, our teams razed the remaining ones during the drive,” Dumka told HT.
The MDDA teams also faced resistance from locals, who sought more time from the authorities to remove encroachments. “However, our teams went ahead with the drive without coming under any pressure,” he said, adding that the Saturday drive was one of the “biggest ever” in the recent times.
{{/usCountry}}The MDDA teams also faced resistance from locals, who sought more time from the authorities to remove encroachments. “However, our teams went ahead with the drive without coming under any pressure,” he said, adding that the Saturday drive was one of the “biggest ever” in the recent times.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, urban development minister Madan Kaushik had inspected the site on June 7 wherein he had expressed strong displeasure over the sprawling encroachments. He had asked officials to rid the area of encroachments within a week’s time besides also facilitating proper drainage, road and parking facilities for the locals.
At present, a large portion of Transport Nagar is under the jurisdiction of the MDDA. The minister during his inspection had also asked MDDA and Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) officials to jointly seek legal opinion for the handover of hand over of the site from the MDDA to the DMC.
Meanwhile, much uproar was created at the site when a widowed woman fainted while seeing her house getting demolished by the MDDA team as a part of the drive on Saturday. She was later rushed to the Doon Hospital through an ambulance where she was treated by doctors. The woman had been living in the area with her minor daughter after her husband’s death a few years ago.