‘Bulldozer campaign’ will continue, says south Delhi mayor
NEW DELHI: South Delhi mayor Mukesh Suryan inspected areas of Sarita Vihar, Jaitpur and Madanpur Khadar wards, all located on the periphery of the Okhla/shaheen Bagh region, on Wednesday and reiterated his earlier statement that an encroachment removal drives will be carried out in these areas in the coming days.
Suryan said he will also visit
Shaheen Bagh to identify illegal encroachments. Senior South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) officials, however, continued to maintain that there are no plans to carry out any “large-scale demolition in the areas” on the lines of the action undertaken in Jahangirpuri by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation on April 20.
Suryan on Wednesday said the survey and bulldozer campaign will continue. “We have found large-scale illegal construction and encroachments along the Yamuna floodplains, where illegal immigrants have settled,” he said.
Abdul Wajid Khan, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor from ward 102, which covers areas such as Shaheen Bagh and Abul Fazal Enclave in Okhla, said Muslim majority areas are being selectively targeted in this latest “politics over encroachments”. “First, they delayed the municipal elections fearing a defeat and now there is a clear attempt to fuel sectarian divide among communities. Their (The BJP) tenure is ending on May 18 and in the last month alone, they have decided to target encroachments. Why didn’t they start from ward number 1, instead of targeting particular areas,” he questioned.
He said there are no illegal encroachments on government land and selective targeting will not be permitted just to harass residents. Commenting on Suryan’s earlier statements on the encroachment removal drive in Okhla, MLA Amanatullah Khan had recently told HT that the whole of Delhi has a similar situation and even the mayor’s house must be inspected for unauthorised construction.
Responding to the allegations of selective targeting, Suryan said similar encroachment removal drives were undertaken recently in areas of Najafgarh, Ramphal Chowk, Tilak Nagar, Hauz Khas and Nehru Place, among others.