HC orders demolition in east, west Delhi areas

NEW DELHI: Unhappy over inaction by MCD which resulted in mushrooming of illegal construction, Delhi High Court on Friday ordered their demolition in DDA flats in Mayur Vihar in east Delhi and on 800 acres of land in Rohini in west Delhi. The order by a division bench of justices A K Sikri and Rekha Sharma, which is dealing with demolition cases, came after it was apprised by the court commissioners of these areas that there was unchecked illegal constructions that had come up in these areas because of no action by MCD. During the brief hearing it was court commissioner for west zone Rakesh Khanna who informed HC that there was "massive encroachment" in 800 acres of land in Rohini where locals have taken over public land for private purpose. After being told by Khanna that unabated illegal constructions had sprouted in the area, an angry bench ordered immediate demolition of illegal constructions in places like Ashok Nagar, Ram Vihar, Dhruv Enclave, Lakhirampal, Deep Vihar, Begumpur and Jain Colony. Another court commissioner Sanjeev Bhandari, who is incharge of inspecting Shahdra zone, informed the court that during a survey of DDA flats in Mayur Vihar Phase-3 (pocket D), it was found that a few residents had encroached upon public land. He alleged that they have erected concrete cement pillars on the road and built floors on it, usingpublic land for private purpose. Bhandari said that the encroachments have already been brought to the attention of DDA but it has turned a blind eye and refused to act. He also informed of massive encroachments in Gharoli dairy farm area, Chander Nagar, Shiv Puri extension, and Geeta Colony. Saying that more than 600 complaints were pending, he lamented the fact that no status report had been forwarded to the monitoring committee and court commissioners by the civic agency.
THE TIMES OF INDIA; 12 Apr 2008, 0317 hrs IST , TNN