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Despite criticism, Delhi civic bodies say will intensify ‘anti-encroachment’ drives
Wednesday's demolition drive in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri, carried out by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), triggered massive outrage. The drive was halted by the Supreme Court, which ordered a status quo.
Undeterred despite massive criticism over Wednesday’s demolition drive in northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, which was carried out by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), the mayors of the Capital’s two other civic bodies, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), both said they will ‘intensify’ anti-encroachment exercises in their respective jurisdictions.
“We are holding regular meetings to chalk out our strategy to remove encroachment from public land. Not a single encroacher will be spared. Today also, we held discussions with officials, and identified several sites under SDMC’s jurisdiction,” Mukesh Suryan, SDMC mayor, said.
More places are being added, and by Monday, there will be a final list, followed by appropriate action, Suryan further said.
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Meanwhile, EDMC mayor, Shyam Sundar Agarwal, too, said anti-encroachment drives are already underway. “We have identified several areas where encroachment is a major problem. Today, we directed deputy commissioners of Shahdara north and south zones to prepare detailed roadmaps and necessary arrangements to carry out such activities,” Agarwal informed.
All three civic bodies, which will soon be unified into a single entity, are run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Adesh Gupta, the BJP’s Delhi unit chief, had, on Tuesday, appealed to NDMC mayor, Raja Iqbal Singh, to carry out demolition drive in Jahangirpuri. On Wednesday, Gupta made similar appeals to mayors of the south and east Delhi civic bodies.
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Jahangirpuri witnessed communal clashes on April 16. Though NDMC described the subsequent demolition drive as a ‘routine exercise’, opposition parties and critics, citing recent incidents of razing down of properties of riots accused on directions of BJP state governments, accused the civic body of ‘targeting a particular community’, a charge it denies.
As demolitions commenced in Jahangirpuri on April 20, the Supreme Court ordered a status quo, bringing them to a halt. A day later, the court extended status quo for at least two more weeks, when the next hearing will be held.
(With PTI inputs)
