Gurugram: Residents of Kant Enclave stage protest against SC order

GURUGRAM: Residents of Kant Enclave on Monday put up a peaceful demonstration on site as their homes and properties were demolished by Faridabad authorities in accordance with a Supreme Court order. They called April 1 a ‘black day’, and carried posters denouncing the drive.

The residents said this was probably the first time that an approved and licensed colony was demolished. Vishisht Seva Medal awardee Brigadier (retired) M B Anand, a resident of Kant Enclave, told TOI, “It would be a breach of trust on part of any constitutional authority to evict people and destroy their homes, after having registered their sale deeds, collected stamp duty and other fees, approved their building plans and collected house tax from them for so many years.”

The residents alleged theirs is the first and only colony falling under Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) 1900 in Haryana, that has been targeted, as residents are retired senior bureaucrats and Army brass, and the government wanted to make a show out of them.

“This is probably the first time in independent India that a colony sanctioned and licensed by the government has been termed illegal. Some HSVP sectors are also built on PLPA land. Why, then, was Kant Enclave targeted? The SC order should apply to all settlements on PLPA lands,” said Bhartendu Seth, a retired professor with IIT Bombay, who has been living in the colony for the past 15 years.

Others demanded that demolition should be carried out after consideration of the PLPA amendment bill proposed by the state government in the assembly.

Lt Col Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi, environmentalist, said, “As noted in the SC order, DTCP and the builder led hapless plot owners up the garden path. Responsibility needs to be fixed on DTCP, and its former leadership should be held accountable.”

PLPA was the earliest legal protection to Aravalis given by the British. The Act restricts non-forest activities in Haryana, including Gurgaon and Faridabad.

Of 25,000 hectares of Aravali land in five districts of south Haryana, some 22,000 hectares is notified under PLPA.