The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) on Wednesday kicked off the final phase of demolition at Khori Basti here with less than a week to go for the Supreme Court deadline to remove encroachment on 170-acre forest land. The drive was, however, called off for the day mid-way due to heavy rain.
MCF Commissioner Garima Mittal said the target for the day was achieved before the drive was abandoned due to rain, adding that the Supreme Court order to free the land from encroachers till July 19 would be adhered to “in letter and spirit”. She, however, evaded questions on the number of houses demolished, saying that she could not share the “operational details”. She said the drive would continue in the days to come.
Temporary shelter
Ms. Mittal said a camp was being organised for those eligible for the rehabilitation policy of the Haryana government and a temporary shelter was also set up through Red Cross for those in need of immediate shelter.
The Faridabad district administration had on Tuesday announced a policy to rehabilitate those having Haryana voter identity card, Parivar Pechan Patra or electricity bill, but the activists objected to it saying that the government should not resort to “pick and choose” and extend rehabilitation policy to all. Social activist Meenu Verma said only 1,000-odd residents were eligible for the rehabilitation policy.
Earlier, the demolition squad of the municipal body comprising 17 excavators began the drive in the morning. More than 3,000 police personnel, including three Deputy Commissioners of Police, 12 Assistant Commissioners of Police, and staffers from Traffic Police, Crime Branch and Rapid Action Force, were deployed for the demolition under the supervision of Nodal Officer Anshu Singla, Deputy Commissioner of Police, NIT.
The Supreme Court had on June 7 ordered demolition of the structures in Khori Basti on the forest land within six weeks. The demolition was being carried out in bits and pieces since the SC order, and several FIRs were also registered.
Activists demand
The social activists and political leaders have been demanding that Khori Basti residents be rehabilitated before the demolition and compensated.
The colony has 5,158 houses, 80 shops, five educational institutes, 36 social, public utility and religious structures and two industrial units. Most of the residents are migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Punjab and other States. Most of them bought plots through local real estate agents to settle on the land in early 1990s.
Former Lok Sabha MP and Congress national spokesperson Udit Raj also held demonstrations in Delhi along with Khori Basti residents earlier this month seeking to revoke the court order and save the houses from demolition.
