38 acres land freed
The colonies that were razed include Nehru Colony, Pandit Colony, Mazdoor Colony, Kuldeep Colony and Kajheri Colony. Notices for eviction had been issued to four of the five colonies on April 17.
Slum-dwellers had been asked to vacate the premises within 21 days, teams from the Estate Office and the police had been visiting the areas asking people to vacate the hutments. The drive started around 6.30 am on Saturday in the last two days., all five colonies had been demolished. However, apart from slogans being shouted, not much resistance witnessed as many people had already vacated the area by afternoon.
The ones residing in the colonies included those whose names did not figure in the biometric survey conducted in 2006.Eligible beneficiaries in these colonies had already been allotted tenements by the UT administration.
The Estate Office had earlier razed Colony Number 5 to vacate over 100 acres of land.The drive on Saturday was the second against encroachers in the past few months.
“The drive was held peacefully with around 200 staff members of the Estate Office and 1,500 police personnel involved. There were some slum-dwellers who had shifted in Kajheri Colony from Colony Number 5 when it was demolished. During the drive, this was also demolished. We vacated around 38 acres of land from encroachment,” said Deputy Commissioner Mohd Shayin.
These included a dozen Deputy Superintendents of Police and 40 Inspectors. 500 personnel of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) were also deployed.DSP (Law and Order) Roshan Lal, meanwhile, said 1,500 police personnel were deployed at the site.
DSP (South) Surjit Malik said “ Althoughnobody was rounded up, a few colony residents were not co-operating and were made to leave the area.”
Around 400 personnel were deployed as stand-by in the police headquarters. Apart from this, emergency services including ambulances and fire tenders were also deputed at the site. The security force was headed by ASP (City) Parvinder Singh and supervised by SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill. A company of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and 150 civil defence personnel were also deployed at the site.
Slum dwellers fight for what they own
The slum-dwellers were harassed lot as they tried to save their household goods.As the colonies were being demolished and the residents were packing their belongings, there were some who tried stealing material like tin sheds, utensils and iron doors.
Source: Indian Express
Central Reserve Police Force, Colony Number 5, Estate Office, Illegal colonies, Indian Reserve Battalion, Iron doors, Kajheri Colony, Kuldeep Colony, Mazdoor Colony, Mohd Shayin, Nehru Colony, Pandit Colony, Parvinder Singh, Roshan Lal, sheds, SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill, Surjit Malik, UT administration, UT Estate
