Residents of Ggm’s Khori Gaon to continue protest

GURUGRAM: Residents of Khori Gaon Basti in Faridabad said they will continue to protest against the plans to demolish their houses which have allegedly come up on Aravalli forest land, even as eight people were arrested and 10 booked for blocking a road in Faridabad’s Surajkund on Friday. The police said that more than 150 men, women and children gathered in violation of Covid-19 rules to block the Faridabad-delhi road and shouted slogans.

The dwellers of Khori Gaon had approached the Supreme Court for protection after the municipal corporation of Faridabad began to demolish their houses in April this year. After nearly 300 houses were demolished, the occupants of the remaining 10,000 houses approached the top court seeking rehabilitation before their houses got demolished.

On June 7, a Supreme Court bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari ordered eviction of thousands of slum dwellers, holding that there cannot be a compromise or concession on forest land.

There are nearly 10,000 houses with a population of around 100,000 that will be displaced as the demolition drive is set to start on Wednesday.

Sonu Kumar, who has been living in the colony for 15 years, said, “The government has to come up with a solution as to who will bear the loss of property. How can they demolish and give no alternative for our rehabilitation? We will protest on Monday again in our colony to send a message that we will not let the drive take place,” he said.

Milesh Kumar, 29, a social activist and a member of Basti Suraksha Manch, who works on issues of housing rights, said people arrested from the spot were holding a silent protest and they were not violating any Covid-19 guidelines. “All of them are demanding they be given a space to live. People have built double and three-storey houses but the administration and government have turned a blind eye for the last 20 years” he said.

Anshu Singla, deputy commissioner of police (NIT), said, “Even children were brought to the spot and they all were violating Covid-19 protocol. Our teams asked them to maintain distance and wear masks, but they refused to follow directions.”

How can they demolish and give no alternative for our rehabilitation?

a resident of the colony