Leaders across party lines join forces to stall demolition drive

Faced with resistance from residents and politicians across party lines, the Enforcement Wing of the UT Estate Office was today forced to call off a demolition drive at Kaimbwala village.

High drama was witnessed when the Enforcement Wing reached the village to demolish two “illegal” shops. The residents opposed the move and sat in front of JCB machines. Later, leaders from the Congress and BJP, including Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky, BJP president Jatinder Malhotra and AAP councillor Ram Chander Yadav, arrived at the spot and blamed the administration of deliberately harassing poor people. Facing a stiff opposition, the team had to return without taking any action.

The Enforcement Wing’s team reached Kaimbwala with a JCB machine at 8am and asked the residents to remove their belongings. Meanwhile, the residents gathered there and started raising slogans against the administration.

Congress leader Manoj Lubana, along with others, sat on the road in protest. The demonstration continued until 3 pm.

Officials from the Enforcement Wing stated that they were acting on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Lubana claimed that the administration’s actions were only targeting poor people, pointing out that in the Punjab region many individuals had made additional constructions, yet no action was being taken against them. An administrative officer mentioned that they would return on Thursday to carry out the demolition.

Meanwhile, Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky today met UT Adviser Rajiv Verma along with office-bearers of the Market Welfare Association of Sector 8-C, Chandigarh, and apprised him of the difficulties being faced by them on the issue of building by-laws. He also requested the Adviser to immediately stop demolition drive in Kaimbwala and Darua. He also advocated the cause of bakery owners of Manimajra who are facing closure. The Adviser assured to look into the issues.