In existence for 40 years, unauthorised furniture market demolished in Chandigarh’s Sector 53

A massive demolition drive is being carried out at the 40-year-old Furniture Market in Sector 53 here on Sunday.

The drive started around 9 am, late by two hours, after giving enough time to the shopkeepers to remove their stock. The drive was on till the filing of this report.

An official overseeing the exercise said it would take a few more hours to remove all illegal structures.

The land upon which the shopkeepers were running their business was acquired in 2002.

Rush to grab ‘attractive deals’ ahead of furniture market demolition

A total of 227.22 acres (114.43 acres of Kajheri village, 69.79 acres of Badheri village and 43 acres of Palsora village) was acquired for development of third phase of Sectors 53, 54 and 55 and the original landowners had been awarded the compensation. Nearly 15 acres of the land had been encroached upon by the shopkeepers in the market.

On June 22, 2024, the Land Acquisition Department had issued a notice to the furniture market, directing the shopkeepers to demolish their shops and vacate the government land.

As many as 29 shops in the illegal furniture market were demolished on June 30 last year, and the remaining shops are being  demolished.

To maintain law and order, nearly 1,000 police personnel have been deployed.