Dehradun: Teams involved in the demolition drive on Thursday faced resistance from several residents and traders in Nehru Colony area of the city. Alleging that the government was being unfair to them by not giving notices and straight away demolishing shops, protesters tried to stop officials by raising slogans when they arrived to raze the marked encroachments.A protester said that the drive is illegal as the maps of all the homes have been cleared by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) and all the commercial establishments have licenses. “The homes here are decades-old and the shopkeepers have proper licences. Even then, they have been marked for demolition,” said a trader.Protesters also alleged that the administration halted the drive at Prem Nagar as politicians backed the traders there but since no party leaders showed up in their area, the authorities carried on with the demolition in Nehru Colony.Meanwhile, the drive continued on Thursday and authorities demolished 70 structures in the city and sealed seven buildings. Another 115 establishments were also marked.Additional chief secretary and nodal officer for implementing the court’s demolition order, Om Prakash, said, “Thursday’s drive took the total number of demolitions to 2,266 with 4,789 areas marked for encroachments. Also, 95 buildings have been sealed so far.”Om Prakash also informed that the officials of Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) have been ordered to shift transformers, poles as well as high tension and low tension lines soon. “These have been asked to be removed at the earliest so that work of road building can be started,” he said.He also ordered the Public Works Department (PWD) to finish road beatification work soon and asked the civic body to clear debris lying on the roads after demolition for smooth movement of traffic.

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