The Hindu : Front Page : One long day of demolitions and defiance in Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005

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One long day of demolitions and defiance in Delhi

Staff Reporter

Bulldozers run into mounting protests as more illegal properties are razed and sealed

DAY III: The MCD demolition squad in action at Rajendra Nagar in Delhi on Tuesday. PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

NEW DELHI: Amid protests and incidents of stone-throwing by angry residents, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Tuesday continued with its ongoing demolition drive across the Capital, razing 85 unauthorised constructions and sealing six properties. The drive was carried out in 11 of the 12 civic zones amid heavy police presence even as people came out on the streets at Patel Nagar, Pitampura, Rohini and Ghitorni to protest. Elsewhere in the Capital, no law and order problem was reported.

The third day of the drive saw people hurling stones at the police and demolition squads, blocking traffic and targeting city buses. At Ghitorni on Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, residents tried to resist the demolition drive by pelting stones at the police and civic body employees, leaving at least one of them injured. The police later arrested four locals for creating trouble.

On Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, which has many big showrooms illegally built on agricultural land, owners closed their shops and fled when they saw the demolition squad pulling down illegal structures in the area. Tension prevailed in the area throughout the day.

Similarly, at Greater Kailash-I, Rohini, Model Town, Hari Nagar, Mayapuri, Pitampura and Patel Nagar residents gathered on the streets and tried unsuccessfully to resist the demolition squads.

Windowpanes of at least two city buses were damaged by mobs at Rohini, while residents blocked traffic at Pitampura for a brief period.

Former Union Minister Vijay Goel led a protest demonstration at Gujrawalan Town and later courted arrest, while Councillor Onkar Singh Thapar courted arrest in Hari Nagar protesting against the demolition drive on Jail Road.

Ugly scenes were also witnessed at Lajpat Nagar-IV on the busy Ring Road where illegal portion of some well-known local landmarks like Metro Hospital and Heart Institute were razed. Claiming that use of heavy machinery including earth excavators to remove structures from the building was causing disturbance to those undergoing treatment there, attendants of patients scuffled with the demolition squad and police personnel demanding that the drive be called off. Bowing to public pressure, MCD officials stopped the use of heavy machinery here.

On the third day of the drive, 10 commercial and two residential properties were fully demolished, while 58 commercial and 15 residential buildings were partly razed. So far MCD demolition squads have pulled down over 200 illegal constructions and sealed 25 properties. Tuesday saw large-scale demolitions in Civil Lines and Rohini zones, while no demolition drive took place in Najafgarh Zone.

Meanwhile, the MCD has identified over 900 engineers and employees of the Building Department who failed to check the mushrooming of illegal constructions in the city and is planning to initiate action against them soon.

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