NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (PTI): Amid the ongoing ‘anti-encroachment’ drive in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area here, AAP MLA Somnath Bharti has urged the Delhi Lieutenant Governor to stop the exercise and enforce the city government’s order for fresh demarcation.
The anti-encroachment drive by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area continued for the fourth day on Monday, even as the DDA and police personnel faced protests from many local residents during the exercise.
The drive began on Friday and comes a month ahead of a proposed G20 meeting at the park in South Delhi that, according to the DDA, has about 55 monuments under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India, state archeological department and the authority.
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Bharti, in a letter to the L-G, said the demolition drive in Mehrauli has been causing “extreme hardships” to the residents there and that it suffers from “fundamental and legally admissible errors”.
“The L-G is kindly requested to direct the authorities to stop any demolition further and to take remedial measures to compensate the already demolished structures to their rightful occupiers or owners,” he said.
The AAP MLA further requested the L-G to carry out new demarcation and said that, present owners or occupiers should be made party to all such demarcation processes and their objection must be duly considered.
Nearly 1,200 sqm of government land has been reclaimed during an “anti-encroachment drive” carried out in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area a day ago, and the exercise will continue, DDA officials had said on Saturday.
The demolition drive will be carried out till March 9, officials had said on Friday. “If the lands, on which these buildings are situated, happened to be of the government then before undertaking any demolition exercise on the buildings situated on such lands, you are kindly requested to direct the concerned to come up with a rehabilitation package for the people who will get displaced,” the letter read.
Bharti further urged the authorities of DDA and Delhi police who were supposed to guard these government lands and during whose tenure such buildings came up.
“There should be thorough investigation of all the people involved in cheating ordinary people and selling them government lands for construction. Officers involved in moving the line of division from Gair abadi to Abadi should be identified and suitable punitive action including termination should be taken against them,” he wrote in the letter.
According to the demolition notice dated December 12, 2022, the land on which the demolition is being carried out is part of the Mehrauli Archaeological Park and the “existing unauthorised encroachment is acting as a hindrance to the development of the Mehrauli Archaeological Park”.
On Saturday, the Arvind Kejriwal government had asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to stop its anti-encroachment drive in Mehrauli, officials said.
Revenue minister Kailash Gahlot has ordered a fresh demarcation exercise in the area, they said.
The minister had said the residents of the area cannot be displaced until a fresh demarcation is conducted, officials said.
The DDA had based the revenue department’s demarcation as its ground for demolition of alleged encroachments, they claimed.
