In south Delhi, demolition men hammer home a point: Action is all haphazard

NEW DELHI: Demolition men from south corporation descended on Kotla Mubarakpur near Gurudwara Road on Tuesday and razed extended portions of shops and other establishments. Right across, the main road — known as Bhishma Pitamah Marg and heavily encroached upon by vehicles — remained untouched. The officials seemed oblivious to a bus stop taken over by illegally parked vehicles. Similarly, the pavements, where vendors and rickshaws had left little manoeuvring space for pedestrians, were ignored.
Not that the Rs 100 challan issued to owners whose vehicles were removed from the Gurudwara Road was expected to be much of a deterrent, as had been the experience in the past. Nevertheless, over 100 structures, including ramps and staircases, were demolished. Jitender Saluja, general secretary of the Gurudwara Road market association, said the road was too narrow for vehicles to enter. “The drive should be carried out at places where there are actual encroachments, instead of demolishing structures in a small market.”

Officials, on the other hand, claimed that they were acting in accordance with the list prepared by the special task force set up to enforce the drive. Lack of manpower and resources were hindrances to large-scale action, they insisted. Going by the day’s schedule, squatters on the stretch between east Janakpuri metro station and Uttam Nagar Chowk were to be removed through the day. However, only a few vehicles were targeted and the drive was postponed till Wednesday. Officials said their hands were tied due to twin reasons of lack of storage space and staff crunch.

Near Janakpuri, a doctor working with a private hospital protested against his vehicle being towed away, but officials would have none of it, saying he had been let off twice earlier. The drive itself, supposed to start at 12 noon, was delayed by a couple of hours for what officials called “practical” delays. Of the 2.4km-long stretch originally planned for the day, a mere 600 meters were covered. A few temporary juice and biryani stalls were removed and their equipment seized.

A senior SDMC official said: “In the central zone, action was taken at Kotla Mubarakpur and Badarpur. Eight structures in LIG flats at Badarpur were razed. At Kotla Mubrakpur and its surrounding areas, 185 pucca stairs of shops, 16 large boards and three wooden counters were demolished. Six carts and three truckloads of articles were seized.” In the south zone, two stretches, together covering around 7 km, were reclaimed. Asif Ali Road, Nelson Mandela Marg, Mehrauli Road and Vasant Kunj, too, witnessed demolition activity.

The north corporation, on the other hand, impounded 39 vehicles and seized 10 articles as a part of the drive. “Traffic police also issued 60 challans against vehicles parked illegally. Over 60 structures — both permanent and temporary — were demolished across six zones,” a north corporation official said.