After its three-day long demolition drive, the UT Administration has completely erased the biggest slum of Chandigarh — Colony No 5.
The UT Estate Office along with the Municipal Corporation conducted the three days long demolition drive. Over 1,000 police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order situation during the demolition drive. The Administration had made elaborate arrangement for the drive with 10 JCB machines.
Notably, the UT District Magistrate Mohammed Shayin had ordered demolition of illegal structures on 50 acres of prime land in Colony No. 5 here. The orders were issued after giving ample time to the slum dwellers to shift to one-room tenement allotted to them in Dhanas. The District Magistrate in October had issued a 21-day public notice to the slum dwellers to evict the land and shift to the flats allotted to them at Dhanas. The illegal colony had a large number of people living in over 7,000 dwellings.
Chandigarh Housing Board had constructed 8,448 one-room tenements at Dhanas for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers of Colony No. 5. When PM Manmohan Singh handed over keys to the beneficiaries in September, the slum dwellers were asked to shift within one month of the allotment letter being issued. later, a deadline of 21 days was given.