Antiencroachment drive Over 150 shops razed in Prem Nagar

  • | Friday | 14th September, 2018

How can we clear the entire shops in a day, and the heavy rains on Thursday further added to our misery,” said Rajiv Punj, president of Prem Nagar Vyapar Mandal. “They issued notices to us on Wednesday evening and asked us to clear our shops by Friday. They are completely illegal and will be demolished totally,” Singh said.Locals, however, complained that the drive was unfair and they were not given adequate time to clear the shops. “These shops have been built in the middle of the road. Many of the shops are over 60 years old.The demolition drive faced strong resistance from locals, but the administration went ahead saying that they had already served notice to the shop owners and the demolition would be carried out as per the HC directive to remove encroachments from Dehradun.High drama was witnessed at the site when one of the owners threatened to commit suicide if his shop is demolished.

Dehradun: In one of the biggest demolition drives undertaken as part of the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in Dehradun, the district administration on Friday demolished around 150 shops in Prem Nagar market near the Indian Military Academy.Additional chief secretary and nodal officer for implementing the court's order Om Prakash said around 70% encroachment from Prem Nagar has been removed and the rest will be cleared in 15 days.“Till now, more than 9,000 encroachments across the city have been identified of which 5,000 have been removed, and the remaining 4,000 will be demolished in 15 days,” Prakash said.The officials arrived early morning with heavy police force, PAC, around 10 bulldozers and hundreds of workers to demolish shops that mainly belonged to the families of Punjabi migrants who had settled in the area after Partition. Many of the shops are over 60 years old.The demolition drive faced strong resistance from locals, but the administration went ahead saying that they had already served notice to the shop owners and the demolition would be carried out as per the HC directive to remove encroachments from Dehradun.High drama was witnessed at the site when one of the owners threatened to commit suicide if his shop is demolished. Many residents and traders also sat on the roads in protest and the police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse them.One of the officials present on the spot told TOI that PAC and police had to take strict measures because the residents were adamant against the drive “We are implementing the high court’s order and the due process has been followed while demolition,” said SDM Pratyush Singh.He added that more than 100 shops and establishments were demolished and it will continue for few more days till the area is free of encroachments. “These shops have been built in the middle of the road. They are completely illegal and will be demolished totally,” Singh said.Locals, however, complained that the drive was unfair and they were not given adequate time to clear the shops. “They issued notices to us on Wednesday evening and asked us to clear our shops by Friday. How can we clear the entire shops in a day, and the heavy rains on Thursday further added to our misery,” said Rajiv Punj, president of Prem Nagar Vyapar Mandal.

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