Demolition drive irks BJP councillors

Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, February 18

The Municipal Corporation (MC)’s demolition drive in various parts of the city on Thursday has brewed resentment among BJP councillors.

Seven showrooms, two houses, several DPCs, boundary walls and road networks in four different parts of the city were razed. As per the MC sources, a showroom of a BJP leader and another of an ex-councillor were razed, which gave fuel to the fire.

“We have apprised the CM about the officials demolishing the houses that have been constructed several years ago in illegal colonies, after which the CM had assured that no constructed house or establishment will be demolished. Despite this, several constructed establishments have been demolished by the MC and District Town Planner team,” said Yudhveer Saini, councillor. He said several people had already deposited the development charges.

A meeting of Mayor Renu Bala Gupta and councillors was held with DC Nishant Kumar Yadav and MC Commissioner Vikram Kumar.

Gupta said they would pass a resolution in the House, requesting the government to regularise the colonies and not demolish the constructed buildings by charging development charges from them.

Denying the allegations, MC Commissioner said: “We’ve already served notices to all violators. We razed only under-construction buildings.

Meanwhile, DTP Vikram Kumar said they had conducted a fair and transparent demolition drive. “We have adopted the proper procedure,” he added.