High drama at Company Bagh over demolition drive

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 18

High drama was witnessed at the Company Bagh on Monday when a team of the Municipal Corporation (MC) turned up to demolish an illegal enclosure that had been under construction for the last few days to use the land for private purpose. The team could only conduct a symbolic demolition as the encroachers committed that they would remove the remaining structure on their own within a day.

MC Estate Officer Sushant Bhatia, who led the drive, said, “They (encroachers) have made a commitment that the remaining structure will be removed. If they fail to do so, we will not only remove the structure but also take necessary against them.”

Even as the encroachers claimed that they were just trying to keep the animals away from the portion, Bhatia termed it unlawful and illegal. However, no such attempt on their part to remove the structure was seen till the time of filing of this report.

The historic Company Bagh, which is the only prominent breathing place left in the city, too, has shrunk over the years as the three private clubs in it have been expanding their areas for years. Even this latest encroached portion, measuring over an acre, shares it boundary with one of the clubs — The Amritsar Club.

The MC team seemed under utmost pressure as a group of persons, involved in the construction of illegal enclosure, repeatedly made them talk to senior politicians. They tried to create an impression that they had got the support of Congress MLA (Amritsar North) Sunil Dutti and Lok Sabha member Gurjeet Singh Aujla.

One of them introduced a person as the personal assistant of Aujla to officials and the media claiming that he had come at the behest of the MP as he is away to Delhi. Interestingly, Dutti too hurried to the place, but he spotted mediapersons when he was hardly 50 metres from the spot and returned.

Later, talking to The Tribune, Dutti said, “I don’t support any illegal activity. I had visited the place as my constituents were calling me. As soon as I came to know about the matter, I turned back as I do not support such activities.”