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The South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s anti-encroachment drives in the Kalindi Kunj-Jamia Nagar area near Shaheen Bagh and in Sriniwaspuri were cancelled till Friday due to the unavailability of an adequate police force, civic authorities said on Thursday. According to SDMC authorities, the drive was planned for Thursday to remove temporary and permanent encroachment from roads and government land in the area.
“Today’s drive in Kalindi Kunj-Jamia Nagar area has been cancelled due to the unavailability of an adequate police force. “The police informed us that adequate force cannot be provided for the drive today. We will reschedule the drive accordingly,” Rajpal Singh, the SDMC’s central zone chairman, told PTI.
On April 28 too, a demolition drive scheduled in Jasola and Sarita Vihar was cancelled due to the unavailability of an adequate police force. The SDMC on Wednesday carried out an anti-encroachment drive in Karni Shooting Range near Tughlakabad, removing 13 temporary shops and other structures. Encroachment drives were planned in SDMC areas after Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta wrote to the party-ruled civic body’s mayor on April 20 to remove encroachment by “Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and anti-social elements”.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation had come under fire from several civil rights groups and opposition parties after it bulldozed structures in the Jahangirpuri area in an anti-encroachment drive. It was stopped following the Supreme Court’s intervention.
The SDMC has prepared a 10-day action plan to remove encroachment from these areas, including Shaheen Bagh. The drive is likely to be conducted in Shaheen Bagh on May 9. On May 10, the drive is slated to be conducted near the Gurudwara Road near New Friends Colony. On May 11, it will be conducted in Meharchand Market, Lodhi Colony near Sai Baba Mandir and near JLN Metro station, civic officials said.
Demolition Drive by SDMC
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had planned demolitions in Shaheen Bagh on Thursday as part of a new plan against illegal structures after being denied police permission to carry out anti-encroachment drives in south-east Delhi twice last week.
The internal zone level schedule of the South MCD had said action will be taken in Shaheen Bagh on May 5 and May 9. However, sources said Delhi police had denied the provision of security and that the drive could not be carried out without it. “We are still trying,” the sources had said.
The SDMC on Wednesday launched an anti-encroachment drive as part of a 10-day action plan to remove illegal structures from areas within its jurisdiction including Shaheen Bagh, the venue of gathering for the protracted anti-CAA protests in 2019.
Which areas will the drive be conducted in?
The drive, in which bulldozers were also being used, began from Karni Singh Shooting Range on MB Road in Sangam Vihar area, and will continue till May 13 in different localities, SDMC chairman, Central Zone, Rajpal Singh had said. The drive will cover areas such as the Shaheen Bagh main road, Kalindi Kunj, MB Road, Meharchand Market, Sriniwas Puri and Khada Colony, he said.
“We have prepared a 10-day action plan to remove encroachment from these areas, including Shaheen Bagh. We have also asked for adequate police force to carry out the drive. We will start the drive in Shaheen Bagh on May 9,” Singh told PTI.
He said encroachments in Kalindi Kunj and Sriniwas Puri will be removed on May 5 and 6. On May 10, the drive will be conducted near Gurudwara Road near New Friends Colony. On May 11, it will be conducted in Meharchand Market, Lodhi Colony near Sai Baba Mandir and near JLN Metro station, he said.
Another senior SDMC official said, “This is the plan for our routine encroachment removal drives. All these actions are also subject to the availability of the police force.”
How Shaheen Bagh came into the spotlight
Shaheen Bagh, which falls under the SDMC’s central zone, was in the limelight for being the venue of the sit-in protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December, 2019.
The protest was called off only after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the city in March 2020. The drive comes after Delhi BJP Chief Adesh Gupta wrote to the mayors of South and East corporations on April 20 to remove encroachments by “Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and anti-social elements” in their areas.
Previous attempts; Jahangirpuri demolition
In April, a drive was planned in Okhla and Jasola but it could not be executed due to the unavailability of adequate police force. The SDMC has written to the police authorities in southeast and south districts to seek force to carry out the encroachment removal action.
An anti-encroachment drive conducted by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in Jahangirpuri area just four days after communal violence in the locality drew widespread criticism. The Supreme Court had intervened and ordered the NDMC to maintain status quo.
With inputs from agencies
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