Delhi: PWD, MCD carry out demolition drive in Paharganj

Public Work Department (PWD) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD with the help of the police carried out a demolition drive on Sunday in central Delhi. 

The anti-encroachment drive was conducted under the supervision of SDM Karol Bagh. The demolition drive was carried out in Paharganj and Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, said a senior police officer.

"Removing encroachment is a regular exercise for us (MCD), and this was a routine anti-encroachment action,” he added.

The demolition drive in the national capital hit headlines as there are several religious shrines which were built on illegal lands. The MCD faces challenges to remove huge roadside encroachment, especially in market areas.

Joint inspection of 150-year-old mosque done, religious committee seized of demolition issue: NDMC 

Earlier on August 14, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) told the Delhi High Court that a joint inspection was carried out during which it was observed that the 150-year-old mosque at the Sunehri Bagh Road roundabout is required to be removed and the land has to used for safe and smooth flow of traffic.

The NDMC said the matter is also pending for consideration before the religious committee under the chairmanship of Delhi government’s Secretary (Home). Justice Prateek Jalan asked the NDMC to place on record its counter affidavit filed in response to a petition by the Delhi Waqf Board anticipating the demolition of the mosque. It also extended the interim order directing the authorities to maintain status quo and asked them to place before the court the report of the religious committee, once it is made available.

The high court, which was hearing the plea that sought restraining the NDMC from causing any harm to the mosque, listed the matter for further hearing on October 6. The NDMC, in its reply, said it acted upon the letter of the Delhi traffic police in view of the increase in traffic, and the joint inspection was carried out twice. The officials concerned unanimously concluded that the religious structure is required to be removed/relocated, it said. It said it was observed that the land is required to be utilised for redesigning the roundabout and for safe and smooth flow of traffic.

Pragati Maidan slum demolition

In June, at the crack of dawn with the city still asleep, excavators made their way into a slum cluster near Pragati Maidan, waking its inhabitants who felt their lives were about to be upended. As imminent demolition loomed, poised to reduce their modest homes to rubble, several residents suddenly found themselves shelterless. Anxiety crept in as they began to think of their bleak future and possibly that of their children. Fifty-five shanties were demolished in the slum cluster as part of an anti-encroachment drive, displacing more than 40 families. Sifting through the rubble in a last-ditch bid to save their belongings, the slum dwellers alleged they had been demanding the government to allot them an alternative place somewhere within a five-kilometre radius. Most slum dwellers in the cluster work as scrap dealers and are worried about their financial situation after the demolition drive.

Also read- Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge rejigs CWC, inducts Sachin Pilot and Shashi Tharoor