The Arvind Kejriwal Government on Saturday asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to stop its anti-encroachment drive in Mehrauli. Delhi Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot has ordered a fresh demarcation exercise in the area. The Minister said the residents of the area cannot be displaced until a fresh demarcation is conducted.
According to the DDA, nearly 1,200 square metres of government land was reclaimed during an "anti-encroachment drive" in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area a day ago.
The drive was carried out by the Delhi Development Authority amid police security on Friday, triggering protest from various local residents and a blame game between the AAP and the BJP. In a major development on Saturday, the Delhi Government has struck down the demarcation after finding fallacies in its process as the DDA had used Revenue Department’s demarcation as basis for its demolition drive. Gahlot has ordered a fresh demarcation to be conducted in the disputed area. The Revenue Minister has noted that the demarcation has been conducted by keeping the occupants in dark, without serving any notices to them. He has directed DM (South) to conduct a fresh demarcation of the land and inform DDA regarding the same immediately. Sources said the Revenue Minister has received two representations in the matter from Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti and the residents of Ladha Sarai village whose land was falling under the demolition area.
In a statement, the DDA said a demolition drive has been started on Friday in co-ordination with Delhi Police for the removal of encroachment from the DDA Land of Ladha Sarai Village falling in Mehrauli Archaeological Park. This park is home to about 55 monuments under protection of ASI, State Archaeological Department of Delhi government and DDA.
Earlier the DDA said during the demolition programme on Friday, approximately 1200 sq m of government/DDA land has been reclaimed from the encroachers so far, and the exercise is on to reclaim the rest of the encroached government land for its rightful use by all citizens as a park," the DDA said.
“Earlier a demolition order dated 12.12.2022 was pasted on the encroachments existing on land along with marking with the directions to the encroachers to remove all the unauthorised construction from the land in question within 10 days. The land involved in the said demolition order is Government/DDA Land of Ladha Sarai Village and is part of Mehrauli Archaeological Park,” it said.
A demarcation exercise had been carried out as per direction of the High Court in the presence of DDA and Waqf Board representatives by the Revenue Department , GNCTD in Dec. 2021. The action was taken as part of a demolition drive that will continue till March 9, officials had said on Friday. It comes a month ahead of a G20 meeting planned to be hosted at the archaeological park in south Delhi.
"The court has in the past taken note of the encroachment in the historic park in connection with multiple cases, and many people in the last few decades have built unauthorised structures, some, even five-storey or six-storey, in the area. A notice was issued last December and pasted on walls to alert people," a senior DDA official said on Friday.
According to the notice, the land on which the demolition is being carried out is part of the Mehrauli Archaeological Park and the "existing unauthorised encroachment is acting as a hindrance to the development of the Mehrauli Archaeological Park". The sprawling park is dotted with historic monuments, and while the area falls under the DDA, the heritage structures are maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Official sources said the ASI is also working in full swing for the G20 meet at the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, planned to be held early March.
"The High Court of Delhi has, on many occasions, directed the government authorities to secure, protect and preserve the area falling under Mehrauli Archaeological Park by removing illegal encroachment," the statement said.
"The department is taking the action to remove the unauthorised/illegal encroachment from the government land and also to secure the Mehrauli Archaeological Park from encroachment," it said. A "demarcation exercise had been carried out as per direction of the High Court" in the presence of DDA and Waqf Board representatives by the Revenue Department of Delhi in December 2021, it said.