AHMEDABAD: Nearly 100 homes were reduced to rubble in Surat city’s Katargam area, but the biggest question remains unanswered: who authorised the demolition.
Bulldozers entered the Nasirnagar slum in the presence of municipal officials and police personnel, yet no government department has taken responsibility for the operation.
Displaced families continue to demand answers as questions mount over who ordered the clearance and under whose authority the homes were demolished.
The demolition of nearly 100 houses in the Nasirnagar settlement has triggered a political storm, with each passing day adding to the confusion surrounding what residents are calling an “ownerless bulldozer operation.”
Families were left homeless, belongings were buried under debris, and yet the identity of those behind the exercise remains unclear.
The controversy intensified after BJP MLA Vinu Mordia distanced the Surat Municipal Corporation from the operation, despite municipal officials and a sizeable police presence being at the site during the demolition. His statement has further fuelled debate over accountability.
The MLA said he had sought clarification from senior officials of the Surat Municipal Corporation’s Central Zone regarding activities in the Nasirnagar area.
"The information provided by the officials is shocking. The municipal team had gone there only for legal line drawing and road margin measurements. No demolition order was issued, no official action was sanctioned, and there is no record of such a drive in the municipal files," Mordia said.
He further questioned how an entire settlement could be cleared using JCB and Hitachi machines in broad daylight if the civic body had no involvement.
"If the Municipal Corporation did not carry out this demolition, then who had the courage to wipe out an entire slum settlement? We are investigating who is behind the scenes? These are questions that now demand a thorough investigation," he added.
Residents have also raised serious allegations regarding the role of the police, claiming that personnel allegedly remained present throughout the demolition while families pleaded for intervention.
Local resident Javid Shah levelled allegations against law enforcement.
"When the JCB claws were tearing through houses and women and children were crying to save their homes, policemen in uniform were standing there. If this demolition was illegal, why did the police not ask for a demolition order or a magistrate's permission? Why did they remain silent spectators?" he questioned.
The allegations have opened another line of inquiry, with critics arguing that if an unauthorised demolition was taking place, the police were duty-bound to intervene. Instead, hundreds of people allegedly lost their homes while law enforcement either remained passive or failed to verify the legality of the operation.
The incident has placed senior police officials under pressure, with demands for an internal inquiry into the role of personnel deployed on the ground, including PCR vans and supervisory officers present at the site.
The Municipal Corporation also finds itself in an uncomfortable position. According to the MLA, officials were present only for measurement work, but this has raised further questions over how demolition activity allegedly continued in their presence without intervention.
In Surat, even minor unauthorised construction typically attracts swift municipal action. Against that backdrop, questions are being raised over how an entire settlement could be demolished without immediate administrative response.
The controversy has also fuelled speculation about possible collusion between vested interests and rogue elements allegedly operating under the shadow of official machinery. Questions regarding a potential land mafia-builder nexus, administrative negligence and institutional silence have dominated public discourse.
For nearly 100 displaced families, however, the political debate offers little relief. Their homes have been destroyed, their lives uprooted, and the identity of those behind the bulldozers remains unknown.
As pressure mounts from political leaders, residents and civil society groups, the Nasirnagar demolition case is emerging as one of Surat’s most contentious civic controversies, with accountability still unclear despite the debris being cleared.
