To protest the demolition of the National Media Centre (NMC) boundary wall to make way for construction of the intra-city Metro rail, residents and members of the society managing committee met Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at his residence in New Delhi on Sunday.
Hooda gave a patient hearing to residents as they alleged that Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon Limited (RMRGL) had illegally and forcibly taken possession of one acre land owned by the NMC Society.
The Haryana CM spoke to Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) administrator Nitin Yadav on the matter and asked him to ensure that the law is followed and fair compensation is given if the land is to be acquired for construction purposes.
Following Hooda's assurance, the residents have suspended their protest for now in the hope that the authorities concerned and RMRGL will follow the right procedure and take immediate and prompt steps.
"We expect that authorities would stop work at the disputed site until an amicable agreement is reached between authorities concerned, RMRGL and the NMC Society. A delegation of the NMC Society is scheduled to meet the Huda administrator soon," a resident said.
Blaming the town and country planning department and Huda for forcibly entering into their society by bulldozing the main boundary wall, residents also appealed Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to look into the matter.
{{/usCountry}}Blaming the town and country planning department and Huda for forcibly entering into their society by bulldozing the main boundary wall, residents also appealed Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to look into the matter.
{{/usCountry}}Inderjit Badhwar, a resident, said, "Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was my classmate. Now when Rahul Gandhi is fighting for the cause of farmers, he should come here and see how the government is harassing us and extend support to us as well."
Dr Kulwant Singh, general secretary of the resident welfare Association, said, "The court case is still pending and our next hearing is on August 17. The authorities, however, were not ready to listen to us and forcibly barged into our colony. In a span of two hours, they broke the wall and even razed the barricades."
The district administration and Huda had carried out a demolition drive in the area on Friday to reclaim a green belt.
Another resident said, "It takes years for officials to fill potholes but on Friday, they completed the entire task in just two hours. Further, they chose a time when most residents were at work in the afternoon. And no official is available on weekends, so we cannot even complain."