1,200 illegal structures razed in Aravalli belt

Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service
Faridabad, September 14

The local Municipal Corporation today carried out a major demolition drive razing around 1,200 residential structures of an illegal colony that had come up on the civic body’s land in Lakkadpur Khori village of the Aravalli forest region here.

Prashant Atkan, Joint Commissioner of the MC’s NIT zone, said notices had been issued to the encroachers, but they failed to vacate the land. Atkan claimed the land belonged to the corporation and constructions weren’t allowed in the region as it was covered under the PLPA (Forest) Act, 1900.

The action came in response to a Supreme Court judgment that allowed the MC to clear its land of encroachments, he said. The drive that began around 6 am led to panic among the 5,000-odd residents of the locality. The authorities had detained 85 persons in a pre-drive swoop last night to evade any trouble or protest. Around 1,500 police personnel were deployed even as more than a dozen JCB machines brought down the structures.

Working People Charter, an NGO associated with human rights, meanwhile, has condemned the drive. “It’s unfortunate that the administration has rendered over 5,000 poor people homeless amid Covid. Over 150 protesters, including women, have been rounded up. The state government has breached its own policy of rehabilitation…. Most of the houses had water and power connections,” NGO member Nirmal Gorana said.