Jawali: Houses razed on court orders, 7 families rendered homeless

Seven Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Scheduled Caste families were rendered homeless in the peak monsoon season after their houses were demolished in Bassa gram panchayat under the Jawali Assembly constituency on a local civil court’s order on Saturday. In the presence of police and administration officials, JCB machines knocked down over “century-old” houses amid the cries of affected persons.

As per information, the displaced persons were working as labourers to earn their livelihood. The court had issued an eviction order following a petition by land owner Ashok Kumar, a local resident. According to the affected families, Ashok Kumar’s forefathers had settled them on this land around a century ago. They claimed they had been living here for four generations. The hapless families could not file an appeal against the order in the appellate court due the lack of awareness and their financial limitations.

Vijay Kumar, up-pradhan of Bassa gram panchayat, told The Tribune that the affected families had constructed slate-roof houses many years back. Government aid was granted to them to build houses as they were homeless and poor.

He admitted that four houses were built with government grant released through the gram panchayat. However, neither the ownership nor the possession of the occupied land was recorded in their favour in revenue records. It is a matter of investigation that how the government grant was provided to them if they were landless, he pointed out. The houses were also given electricity and water connections.

Tarsem Lal, one of the affected persons, said his family had been living on this land for four generations and in a planned conspiracy his family was ousted from the house built with government grant.

Purna Devi, another affected woman who was earlier an elected ward member, said her family had been living here for the past over a century. “I am a widow and where will I go with my children after the demolition of my house? No one raised an objection when houses were being built with the government grant released through the gram panchayat,” she asked in a choked voice.

Kamal Kumar, another affected person, said his wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and his family was rendered homeless in such a situation. “My forefathers had cultivated the land of Ashok Kumar and his predecessor, who had moved the court seeking our eviction from the land. Neither the gram panchayat nor elected representative from the Assembly constituency came to help us, which reflects their insensitive attitude,” he lamented.

Varinder Kumar, field kanungo, Revenue Department, Nagrota Surian, who was present during the demolition drive, said the order of the Jawali court had been implemented by razing houses in Bassa panchayat. Petitioner Ashok Kumar said, “The court has given a judgement in my favour and the execution order has been implemented to give me the possession of my land.”