8 structures razed on ‘encroached’ land along Buddha Nullah by Ludhiana MC

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 21

Amid the chilly weather conditions, the Municipal Corporation on Wednesday carried out an anti-encroachment drive at Fish Market along the Buddha Nullah near the Shivpuri area here.

The police also lathicharged some protesters, who were opposing the drive.

A total of eight buildings, most of which were fish and meat shops, were demolished. MC officials said the buildings were illegally constructed on encroached land of the nullah.

Criticising the state government and the MC, a group of persons, including a few politicians, raised questions over the drive. Some persons who claimed to be owners of the buildings that were demolished today said the civic body’s action was wrong and they were not given any time to protect their belongings. Some women were also seen crying at the demolition site.

Meanwhile, a few protesters allegedly used abusive language against the officials. “Many of our articles got buried under the debris as no time was given to us to vacate the buildings. Also, fish and chicken got buried under the debris. We have been running shops here for a long time. Some persons even used to stay in the buildings,” a protester said.

Politicians flay AAP govt, MC

Politicians, including councillor Chaudhary Yashpal and BJP leader Gurdev Sharma Debi came out in support of the protesters and criticised the AAP government and the MC for taking action against the buildings.

Yashpal said: “Shop owners had already moved a local court against the MC, and a hearing in the case was scheduled to be held soon. Instead of listening to the voice of these poor people, the state government and the MC carried out a demolition drive today. They had property ownership documents but MC officials ignored them. On the one side, the AAP government made tall claims to provide jobs to the people, on the other it demolished the shops of poor people today.”

However, MC officials said the civic body demolished an illegal fish/meat market established on the government land on the banks of the Buddha Nullah near Shivpuri. They said eight structures were demolished in the presence of representatives of the executive magistrate and the police.

MC staff had reached the site in the morning but the drive was started after 2 pm as the protesters had staged a dharna. MC officials stated that notices were issued to the ‘illegal’ occupants around two weeks ago and the drive was organised only after they failed to remove the encroachments.

“Besides being a hurdle in the smooth flow of traffic, the occupants have also been involved in illegal slaughtering and the waste was being dumped in the nullah illegally, adding to the pollution,” they said.

The officials said residents of the locality had submitted complaints to the MC in the past against the fish market. They claimed the action would provide relief to the residents from unhygienic conditions and traffic bottlenecks.

MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal said encroachments were being removed alongside the nullah under the project to rejuvenate the Buddha Nullah. She said the remaining encroachments would also be removed in days to come.

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