NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporations (North and South) continued with the anti-encroachment drives in various parts of the city on Friday, with Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium at Mangolpuri being one of them, which they said was “illegally” occupied.
According to the North civic body officials, some people ‘illegally’ occupied the property that comes under the education department of the civic body and also brought in cattle inside its premises.
“The drive took place in Mangolpuri at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium. The compound was encroached upon by some people and cattle’s were being brought inside the premises,” said a senior civic official.
Also, the civic body wrote to the local police in Bawana to provide adequate police force to demolish ‘illegally’ running meat shops and other unauthorised structures. The drive also took place at Samaypur Badli, and Prem Nagar in Karol Bagh zone, said officials.
The South Corporation too carried out a similar drive in west Delhi’s Khayala area. Enforcement cell teams reached Khayala with bulldozers in the presence of heavy police and started removing temporary structures, kiosks and shanties.
The South MCD also removed illegal construction along roads and footpaths in Gopal Nagar, Najafgarh, Roshanpura, Subhash Nagar and Vishnu Garden. “Around 2,000 metres of stretch was made encroachment free and 13 articles were seized during the drive,” said a south civic body official.
The official added that during the drive, as many as 15 illegally constructed rooms were razed in Goyla dairy and 42 tin sheds were dismantled.
The drive is a part of a 10-day action plan where the civic body plans to remove encroachments from city roads.
Officials on Thursday carried out similar drives that sparked protests in the Madanpur Khadar area where the locals claimed that they were not given any notice before their homes were bulldozed.
North Delhi and South Delhi municipal corporations carried out the drives in multiple areas, including at a municipal stadium in Mangolpuri which had been illegally occupied by a few people who had also "brought in cattle inside its premises".
A planned encroachment removal drive, however, could not be carried out at a JJ Colony in Bawana due to "non-availability of police force," officials said.
"Action was underway in Mangolpuri at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium, where the inner area was encroached upon by a few people and cattle had been brought inside its premises," a senior official said.
The property comes under the education department of the NDMC, another official said.
An anti-encroachment drive was also carried out at Samaypur Badli, and Prem Nagar in Karol Bagh zone, where action was taken earlier as well, officials said.
NDMC Commissioner Sanjay Goel said temporary encroachments were removed from a stretch from Samaypur Badli Metro Station to Rohini Sector 18 Metro Station in Rohini Zone, and in an area in Prem Nagar in Karol Bagh Zone.
During the encroachment removal drive in Rohini Zone from Samaypur Badli Metro Station to Rohini Sector 18 Metro Station, nearly 75 temporary structures, jhuggies along with permanent platforms, six wooden tables and wooden boards were removed.
About 1300-metre of stretch on both sides of the road was cleared, officials said.
A similar drive was undertaken by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation in west Delhi's Khyala area.
Teams of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation's enforcement cell reached Khyala with bulldozers in the presence of police and started removing temporary structures, kiosks and shanties earlier in the day.
A drive was also undertaken in Subhash Nagar in West Delhi and Goyala Dairy area in Najafgarh Zone, officials said.
The issue of anti-encroachment drives is expected to further raise the political heat in the national capital.
Meanwhile, alleging that certain portions of Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta's residence and office are "illegal", the AAP on Friday demanded the civic body to demolish those "unauthorised constructions" by 11 am on Saturday, failing which the party will get them razed using bulldozers.
Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said a section of the media recently reported about the unauthorised constructions at Gupta's residence.
Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that by announcing that tomorrow he will use a bulldozer to remove an encroachment in the form of one stair, from outside Gupta's residence, the Aam Aadmi Party leader has "established that he and his anarchic partymen" do not fear taking law into their hands.
Officials on Friday said the Delhi Chief Minister will hold a key meeting with all AAP MLAs on Saturday on the anti-encroachment drives conducted by the BJP-ruled civic bodies, The meeting will begin at 11 am on Saturday at Kejriwal's official residence in Civil Lines.
Officials said a strategy will be chalked out at the meeting to counter the BJP's politics over the anti-encroachment drives.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to stop the "destruction" ensuing in the national capital due to the anti-encroachment drive by the BJP-ruled municipal bodies.
In an online briefing, Sisodia slammed the "bulldozer politics" of the BJP and claimed that the civic bodies are planning to raze 63 lakh dwellings in the national capital.
Civic authorities on Thursday had carried out anti-encroachment drives in various parts of Delhi that sparked violent protests and pelting of stones in the Madanpur Khadar area where the locals claimed that legal structures were bulldozed.
While the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) carried out the drive in Madanpur Khadar and Dhirsen Marg, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) took action in areas under its Rohini and Karol Bagh zones.
AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan and five others were arrested on Thursday on the changes of rioting and obstructing public servants from discharging their duty, hours after the Okhla MLA took part in a protest against an anti-encroachment drive in the Madanpur Khadar area in southeast Delhi.
A Delhi court granted bail to Khan on Friday.
The Delhi Police has declared Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan as a "bad character", according to an official document.
Alleging that certain portions of Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta's residence and office were illegal, the AAP on Friday demanded the civic body to demolish those "unauthorised constructions" by 11 am on Saturday, failing which the party will get them razed using bulldozers.
AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said while a section of the media recently reported about the unauthorised constructions at Gupta's residence, he alleged the BJP leader's "political office" in West Patel Nagar, too, was an "illegal construction", and an encroachment on the land belonging to a civic body-run primary school.
Addressing a press conference, Pathak said his party had earlier written to the mayor and commissioner of the civic body concerned demanding a probe into these "unauthorised constructions" but they did not take any action.
"This can't be done anymore. I demand the BJP-ruled MCD that the unauthorised constructions at Gupta's residence and his illegal political office be demolished tomorrow by 11 am," Pathak said.
"Else, we will go to his residence taking bulldozers and bring down the unauthorised constructions there. We will also take action against his illegal office," he added.
Pathak also slammed the BJP-ruled civic bodies' anti-encroachment drive in the city and asked why "the BJP's bulldozers" were demolishing the houses of the poor and common people.
"The BJP leaders and the officials of the civic bodies are the main culprits behind all the illegal constructions that have taken place in the city. But no action is being taken against them," he alleged.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to stop the "destruction" ensuing in the national capital due to the anti-encroachment drive being carried out by the three BJP-ruled municipal bodies.
Addressing the media, the senior AAP leader accused the BJP of playing "petty politics to extort people and gain political mileage", and assured the public of his party's support, saying, "We are even willing to go to jail, if necessary."
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has upped the ante against the anti-encroachment drive a day after it claimed that the demolition of unauthorised constructions will render 63 lakh people homeless in the national capital.
Latching onto the issue, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party also demanded that polls to elect new municipal corporations be held and these new civic bodies be allowed to decide on the course of action against the unauthorised constructions.
SC to hear plea against MCD
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea seeking quashing of notification issued by the Municipal Corporation (North) on demolitions in the violence-hit Jahangirpuri. A bench of judges said it was not inclined to issue a notice in the matter.
“We will list it with Jahangirpuri demolition matters. Persuade the judges there. We will not issue notice,” said the bench.
The top court said that earlier it refused to entertain pleas by political parties, then why should it entertain a petition by advocates.
The plea has also sought directions for compensation for the losses caused by demolition.
(With PTI Inputs)