SDMC mayor leads more ‘encroachment’ site visits

South Delhi mayor Mukesh Suryan inspected areas of Sarita Vihar, Jaitpur and Madanpur Khadar wards, all located on the periphery of the Okhla/Shaheen Bagh region, on Wednesday and reiterated his earlier statement that encroachment removal drives will be carried out in these areas in the coming days.

Suryan said he will also visit Shaheen Bagh area soon to identify illegal encroachments. Senior South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) officials, however, continued to maintain that there are no plans to carry out any “large-scale demolition in the areas” on the lines of the action undertaken in Jahangirpuri by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation on April 20.

Suryan on Wednesday said the survey and bulldozer campaign of the civic body will continue: “We have found large-scale illegal construction and encroachments along the Yamuna floodplains, where illegal immigrants have settled.”

Abdul Wajid Khan, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor from ward 102, which covers areas such as Shaheen Bagh and Abul Fazal Enclave in Okhla, said Muslim majority areas are being selectively targeted. “First, they delayed the municipal polls fearing a defeat and now there is a clear attempt to fuel sectarian divide among communities. Their (BJP) tenure is ending on May 18 and in the last month alone, they have decided to target encroachments. Why didn’t they start from ward number 1, instead of selectively targeting particular areas,” he questioned.

Commenting on Suryan’s earlier statements on the encroachment removal drive in Okhla, MLA Amanatullah Khan had recently told HT that the whole of Delhi has a similar situation and even the mayor’s house must be inspected for unauthorised construction.

Responding to allegations of selective targeting, Suryan said similar encroachment removal drives were undertaken recently in areas of Najafgarh, Ramphal Chowk, Tilak Nagar, Hauz Khas and Nehru Place, among others, and there was no question of “selective targeting”.

SDMC has claimed that over the last four months it has carried out anti-encroachment drives over nearly 623km of road/footpaths. “The civic body intends to undertake such action in Vikaspuri, Keshopur, Sarita Vihar, Badarpur, Okhla, GK, CR Park, Ambedkar Nagar, Dwarka, Palam, Vasant Kunj, and Kapashera in the coming days,” an SDMC official stated on Tuesday, asking not to be named.

However, several SDMC officials that HT spoke to maintained that no official orders have been issued based on the mayor’s comments.

On Wednesday, North MCD carried out encroachment removal drive in Rohini Sector 7 during which temporary structures in front of 32 shops were removed and an area of 300sqm was freed up. The East Delhi Municipal Corporation said it has carried out similar drives in Welcome, Babarpur bus terminal, Kabir Nagar, and Durga Puri Chowk, among other areas.