50 houses razed by Jalandhar Improvement Trust

Tribune News Service

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, December 9

Having lost all legal remedies to continue to occupy the properties in the Latifpura locality near the posh Model Town here, nearly 50 families lost their dwellings in a major demolition exercise carried out by the Jalandhar Improvement Trust on Friday.

Over 700 policemen had been deployed since late last night and the demolition began early this morning. Emotions ran high as women strongly opposed the move and some of them, who protested aggressively, were detained by the police.

Several attempts to remove the encroachments in the past did not yield results owing to massive protests. A major action planned by the authorities in January 2019 had also failed owing to stiff opposition from the occupants, who are all Sikh families from Pakistan who came in here after the Partition more than 75 years ago.

“This is the second time in the past 75 years that our families have have been rendered shelterless. My parents brought me and my brother here from Pakistan after the Partition and we settled down here. Life has given us a major setback once again and we are back on roads,” said Sarabjit Singh, whose house was one of the 50 that were demolished.

The youth and children, who saw their houses falling apart were also in a state of shock. Anmolpreet Kaur, a college student, sat with her family in a cot amid the rubble with belongings by her side. Having lit up fire to warm themselves this evening, she said, “I had kept my books safely in college as I knew that this could happen and I could lose them here.”

Highlighting they were without food, water and electricity, residents said they were unable to decide their next move.

The land being vacated measures 1.5 acre and is worth Rs 150 crore. It falls under the Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar Scheme of the Improvement Trust. The matter had been lingering on since 2006 and the occupants had exhausted all their chances to stay on.

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