BDA razes 10 houses in Model Town

Sameer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 6

A team of the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) conducted a demolition drive and razed illegal structures constructed on PUDA land in Model Town Phase-3 on Thursday.

The demolition drive started around 10 am in the morning and completed at 1:30 pm. Apart from BDA officials, many police personnel were also present at the venue. As the drive was on, many area residents gathered at the venue.

Sukhpal Singh, SDO (building branch), BDA, conducted the demolition drive proceedings where around one acre of encroached land was freed. As many as 10 houses were razed by two JCB machines.

Sources said around a dozen small to medium sized houses had come up on PUDA land in vacant plots near Model Town Phase-3 and Dhobiana road.

The pucca houses razed by the BDA authorities on Thursday were built in the past 30 years.

Residents whose houses were razed were also present at the spot.

BDA officials said to prevent the encroachment in the area, a boundary wall was constructed but despite that people had constructed brick houses here.

The officials added that the residents were intimated on many occasions to free PUDA land but they did not take it seriously and hence the BDA authorities, as a final resort, had to conduct the demolition drive.

The commercial land and its market value is said to be around Rs 20 crore. With the assistance of the police personnel, the drive could be conducted without any hitches or interruptions.

One of the residents whose house was demolished by the BDA authorities said, “I had been living with my parents, wife and two daughters in the area for the past 10 years. I have given every inch of my saving to build this house and the authorities have demolished it in a matter of minutes in front of my eyes. I am homeless now. At least the authorities could have given us some time or informed us before conducting the drive.”

Another couple rued that they had come from Malerkotla to live here around 30 years ago but the authorities had rendered them homeless in a moment.

They added that there are encroachments on Waqf Board land in many parts of the city but the authorities had not conducted any demolition drive there. If that was the case, they could have provided them land there, they said.