Delhi demolition drive: Bulldozers reach New Friends Colony, Mangolpuri

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Tuesday carried out anti-encroachment drive on Gurudwara Road in New Friends Colony as civic officials reached the spot with bulldozers and removed illegal temporary structures.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Tuesday carried out anti-encroachment drive on Gurudwara Road in New Friends Colony as civic officials reached the spot with bulldozers and removed illegal temporary structures, the authority said.

This comes a day after the civic body had to return without executing the action in Shaheen Bagh on Monday following protests by locals and political leaders.

SDMC's Central Zone Chairman Rajpal Singh said that the anti-encroachment drive has begun in areas around New Friends Colony. “Our enforcement teams along with adequate police force and equipment such as bulldozers and trucks have started removing illegally set up kiosks, temporary structures, shanties or shops from near Baudha Dharma Temple, Gurudwara Road and nearby areas in New Friends Colony. Our drive against encroachment will continue,” Singh told PTI.

New Friends Colony falls under the Central Zone of the SDMC.

"A stretch of about 500 metres was cleared of encroachment on streets and pavements in Y block of Mangolpuri. Street vendors and grocery sellers had put up illegal temporary structures which were removed as part of a routine drive," a senior NDMC official said.

AAP MLA Mukesh Ahlawat who questioned the use of bulldozers to raze illegal construction in Mangolpuri has been detained. "The anti-encroachment drive is going on. A local MLA (Mukesh Ahlawat) came here and said what's the need for using JCBs. To prevent the situation from getting jeopardised, we have detained the MLA," Sammer Sharma, DCP, Outer District, Delhi Police, told ANI.

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 had prepared a 10-day action plan to remove encroachment from several areas, including Shaheen Bagh.

SDMC's drive-in Shaheen Bagh had witnessed people protesting in large numbers against the action and a complaint was also registered against AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan for “obstructing” the drive.

The Supreme Court had also refused to entertain a plea filed by the CPI(M) against the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh, saying it cannot interfere in the matter at the instance of a political party.

(With PTI inputs)