Demolition spree unabated in Delhi; war of words break out between AAP, BJP
NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporations (North and South) continued with the anti-encroachment drives in various parts of the city on Friday, with Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium at Mangolpuri being one of them, which they said was “illegally” occupied.
According to the North civic body officials, some people ‘illegally’ occupied the property that comes under the education department of the civic body and also brought in cattle inside its premises.
“The drive took place in Mangolpuri at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium. The compound was encroached upon by some people and cattle’s were being brought inside the premises,” said a senior civic official.
Also, the civic body wrote to the local police in Bawana to provide adequate police force to demolish ‘illegally’ running meat shops and other unauthorised structures. The drive also took place at Samaypur Badli, and Prem Nagar in Karol Bagh zone, said officials.
The South Corporation too carried out a similar drive in west Delhi’s Khayala area. Enforcement cell teams reached Khayala with bulldozers in the presence of heavy police and started removing temporary structures, kiosks and shanties.
The South MCD also removed illegal construction along roads and footpaths in Gopal Nagar, Najafgarh, Roshanpura, Subhash Nagar and Vishnu Garden. “Around 2,000 metres of stretch was made encroachment free and 13 articles were seized during the drive,” said a south civic body official.
The official added that during the drive, as many as 15 illegally constructed rooms were razed in Goyla dairy and 42 tin sheds were dismantled.
The drive is a part of a 10-day action plan where the civic body plans to remove encroachments from city roads.
Officials on Thursday carried out similar drives that sparked protests in the Madanpur Khadar area where the locals claimed that they were not given any notice before their homes were bulldozed.
North Delhi and South Delhi municipal corporations carried out the drives in multiple areas, including at a municipal stadium in Mangolpuri which had been illegally occupied by a few people who had also “brought in cattle inside its premises”.
A planned encroachment removal drive, however, could not be carried out at a JJ Colony in Bawana due to “non-availability of police force,” officials said.
“Action was underway in Mangolpuri at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium, where the inner area was encroached upon by a few people and cattle had been brought inside its premises,” a senior official said.
The property comes under the education department of the NDMC, another official said.
An anti-encroachment drive was also carried out at Samaypur Badli, and Prem Nagar in Karol Bagh zone, where action was taken earlier as well, officials said.
NDMC Commissioner Sanjay Goel said temporary encroachments were removed from a stretch from Samaypur Badli Metro Station to Rohini Sector 18 Metro Station in Rohini Zone, and in an area in Prem Nagar in Karol Bagh Zone.
During the encroachment removal drive in Rohini Zone from Samaypur Badli Metro Station to Rohini Sector 18 Metro Station, nearly 75 temporary structures, jhuggies along with permanent platforms, six wooden tables and wooden boards were removed.
About 1300-metre of stretch on both sides of the road was cleared, officials said.
A similar drive was undertaken by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation in west Delhi’s Khyala area.
Teams of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s enforcement cell reached Khyala with bulldozers in the presence of police and started removing temporary structures, kiosks and shanties earlier in the day.
A drive was also undertaken in Subhash Nagar in West Delhi and Goyala Dairy area in Najafgarh Zone, officials said.
The issue of anti-encroachment drives is expected to further raise the political heat in the national capital.
Meanwhile, alleging that certain portions of Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta’s residence and office are “illegal”, the AAP on Friday demanded the civic body to demolish those “unauthorised constructions” by 11 am on Saturday, failing which the party will get them razed using bulldozers.
Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said a section of the media recently reported about the unauthorised constructions at Gupta’s residence.
Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that by announcing that tomorrow he will use a bulldozer to remove an encroachment in the form of one stair, from outside Gupta’s residence, the Aam Aadmi Party leader has “established that he and his anarchic partymen” do not fear taking law into their hands.