The Chandigarh Administration evicted 2000 residents of Kuldeep Colony, Pandit Colony, Majdoor Colony and Nehru Colony in Sector 52 on Saturday, carrying on with their demolition drive.
Around 100 families out of the total 2,000 families which were evicted protested on Friday against the demolition drive and blocked the Sector-52 road. However, they failed to budge the authorities from carrying on with their work.The demolition work commenced around 6 am and the work happened peacefully as compared to the demolition drive which was carried out six months back to remove the residents of Colony number 5, residing illegally on Government land.
Residents of the colonies, who were found eligible, were rehabilitated, to flats constructed under the Jwaharlal Nehru National Urban Mission in Dhanas, in May last year. Many residents of the colonies who failed to get houses under the rehabilitation program had complained of mass scale irregularities in the process.
The demolition drive on Saturday was carried under the leadership of DC Mohammad Shahin with around 1,500 cops standing guard to prevent any untowardly incident. Around 10 am almost all the houses were demolished and 38 acres of land worth `200 crore was cleared.Small skirmish took place when the residents of slum number 413 and 415 told the authorities that they had got stay order from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and asked them not to go on with the demolition drive. The plea fell on deaf years as the bulldozers razed the houses in this slum and the whole area was flattened in less than an hour.
After the conclusion of the drive, many families were seen gathering their belongings from among the debris. There were families who were left helpless after the drive because they didn’t get houses under the rehabilitation program and with their houses reduced to dust, they have nowhere to go.
Health workers who were deployed at the site said that there were no cases of injury and the drive was carried in a peaceful manner as most of the families staying in the area had left a day before with their belongings as they were aware of the fact that no one can stop the ongoing demolition work.Meanwhile, residents who have no place to call home now stood mute spectators to the whole episode and spewed venom on small-time leaders, who have been visiting them and gave them the false hope, but on the day of the drive this leaders were nowhere to be seen.