Anti-encroachment drive reaches GK, Aurobindo Marg, RK Puram

At least 30 trucks, excavators and cranes were deployed, seizing goods being sold on pavements or removing illegal extensions of shops

A Special Task Force (STF) formed to enforce an apex court order to clear public areas of encroachments targeted busy stretches of roads in south, north and east Delhi on Tuesday, the fourth day of the drive aimed at reducing congestion and free walking spaces of squatters.

A view of the shops from where the MCD officials removed encroachments during the anti-encroachment drive at Khari Baoli, New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, May 1, 2018.(Sushil Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

As many as 250 temporary and 40 permanent structures encroaching on public land were removed from the roadside and 150 vehicles parked illegally or abandoned were seized, officials from three municipal corporations said. At least 30 trucks, excavators and cranes were deployed, seizing goods being sold on pavements or removing illegal extensions of shops. The north, south and east municipal corporations, part of the STF formed by the Union ministry for housing and urban affairs, targeted roads in Yusuf Sarai market on Aurobindo Marg, Church Road and Vivekanand Marg in RK Puram, Bhishma Pitamah Marg in Kotla Mubarakpur, Josip Broz Tito Marg in GK, Karnal Road near Azadpur Mandi, and Geeta Colony, Modi Mill and the Britannia Chowk section of Ring Road.

On April 24, the SC told the central government to rid Delhi of all encroachments on public land in two weeks. The STF, made up of top officials from the Delhi Development Authority, Delhi police, the city’s three municipal corporations and the New Delhi Municipal Council, is the first of its kind set up to evict squatters in the national capital.

“Several pavements along these stretches were heavily encroached on by the vendors. Though some of them were issued tehbazari licences, they were also found to be violating the licensing norms. This was leading to heavy traffic jams...” said a South Delhi Municipal Corporation official attached to the licensing department. Tehbazari licences are granted to temporary or makeshift shops that aren’t supposed to have roofs; no cooking is permitted at such shops. “But at certain places we found illegally operational tandoors, which are not only unlicensed but are also dangerous,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

At Greater Kailash-I, encroachments around the Archana Complex crossing were removed and items such as compressors, gas cylinders and racks used by hawkers were seized by the anti-encroachment squad.

Besides, 18 temporary structures and one permanent structure were demolished by the licensing department of SDMC and Delhi Police near Modi Mill in the Okhla Industrial Area.

“During the drive, we were successful in vacating a five-acre government land. An unauthorised fish market was operating here for years. The land was vacated in a joint action. The land belongs to the Delhi Development Authority and they have been asked to setup a fence around the area,” said the SDMC official.

In east Delhi, 61 vehicles were impounded from the Shastri Park, Seelampur and Dilshad Garden areas. The north corporation impounded 17 vehicles from the main road facing Red Fort. “The vehicles were taken to the warehouses owned by the DDA and the municipalities, and challaned as per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act. The minimum amount of challan is ₹5,400 per day, and it will keep increasing, depending on the weight of the vehicles,” said special commissioner of police (traffic) Depender Pathak.