Delhi: Demolition drives continue, Meherchand market is spared

The drive in Lodhi Colony and Meharchand market on Wednesday afternoon saw Rajpal Singh, the SDMC chairman, reach the main market along with other MCD officials, where they informed that they want to clear the encroachment in the area. However, no kiosks or shops were demolished.

“People removed the encroachment beforehand. We will conduct a survey again,” said an official.

The officials brought a truck and seized some material from a sweets shop in Lodhi Colony. The shop was later shut by the owner. Locals said none of the stalls or kiosks were removed.

Set up in 1962, Meherchand Market, which now boasts of designer stores, small cafes and graffiti walls, was then a hub of tailors and tent houses. Locals say it was called a ‘wonder’ market because the tailors were masters of alteration. The market was named after then Union Minister of Rehabilitation Mehr Chand Khanna.

In Najafgarh and Hari Nagar, the bulldozers faced stiff opposition from people whose property was either damaged or seized, with many calling the drive illegal since they had not been served any notices.

MCD officials, however, said that they did not need to serve notice to demolish or remove encroachments on the road.

“We are not demolishing any homes or shops. Only those parts of shops that have been extended onto the road are being removed. This is done as part of normal anti-encroachment drives. We are well within our rights to conduct these operations and they are important to make sure that government land is not encroached upon,” said a senior MCD official.

Meanwhile, various Left-wing organisations took out a citizens’ march to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s residence to protest against the anti-encroachment drives being carried out by BJP-led municipal corporations in the city.

The march started from Kashmere Gate and was proceeding towards Baijal’s residence where it was stopped by the police.

During Tuesday’s drive, which took place at New Friends Colony, a few temporary structures and extended fences and walls were removed. A tree also got damaged in the process, in lieu of which the corporation has said it will plant 10 saplings, officials said.

The demolition drives have taken a political hue ever since one was conducted in Jahangirpuri, days after communal violence erupted in the area. An outer gate of a mosque was among the structures taken down there, and the matter had reached the Supreme Court, which effectively stopped the MCD action by ordering status quo. And, while the BJP has sought to link the drive to “illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya” living in the capital, the AAP alleges it is a bid by the civic bodies to extort money from people.