NEW DELHI: The AAP senior leader and cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday asked the BJP MPs in Delhi to clear their stand on demolitions being carried out in the past months by the DDA.
“I want to ask all the seven MPs of BJP in Delhi whether they are standing with these demolition actions. If not, what have they done to stop the demolition, have they met the vice chairman of the DDA or written any letter to him? Were any of them present at the site of demolition when such actions were being taken? Have they met the L-G,” minister Bharadwaj asked while addressing a press conference.
Bhardwaj said that about a year ago, the DDA demolished the homes of thousands of people in Gosiya Colony, located in Mehrauli, by running bulldozers in broad daylight. “When the AAP opposed this illegal act, many BJP MPs and MLAs were seen spreading lies among the public, claiming that this demolition was being carried out by the Delhi government. The truth came out among the public when the colony residents approached the high court regarding this matter,” he claimed.
“The high court, while hearing the plea of the basti dwellers, imposed a stay on the demolition of about 400 such ‘jhuggis’ and multi-story buildings and also reprimanded the DDA, saying that the slum area is listed in the clustered area of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), department of Delhi government,” Bhardwaj said. He said despite this, slums were demolishing illegally.
The central government, which suspends officers on “trivial matters”, should tell what action has been taken against officers involved in demolition of shelters of thousands of people “illegally”, he asked.
So far, “no action” has been taken against any officer because all these officers were only following the directives of the BJP-led central government, the AAP leader alleged.
He claimed that just a few days ago, the DDA also “demolished a JJ camp at Karkardooma in the same manner, and those people were not provided with any other place to live”.
Demolition ban
The HC while hearing the plea of the basti dwellers, imposed stay on demolition of over 400 ‘Jhuggis’. Still many were demolished, Bhardway alleged