Demolition at INA

Vaishali Saraswat / TNN / Feb 27, 2007, 23:38 IST

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The usual hustle and bustle of customers was missing at INA Market as bulldozers rolled into the complex to carry out demolitions.

NEW DELHI: The usual hustle and bustle of customers haggling with vendors and shopkeepers was missing at INA Market on Tuesday as bulldozers rolled into the complex to carry out demolitions, as directed by the Delhi High Court.
As the four-day deadline given to traders to remove encroachments here ended on Monday, the MCD, NDMC and DDA launched a joint operation, under the land and development office (L&DO), to demolish illegal additions to the market.
Those traders, who have extended their 8X10-ft shops illegally, got another day to remove the encroachments.
Said a member of the monitoring committee, B L Vohra: "Traders have encroached in three ways. Some have illegally constructed structures on government land, while some have extended their shops by several feet.

The third category includes those who have illegally occupied verandahs and passages, hence obstructing free movement inside the market. Tuesday's action was mainly directed towards those who have constructed shops illegally without any allotment."
Thirty-two such illegal shops built on L&DO land were removed on Tuesday. "Several shopkeepers had cleared their premises of goods on Monday itself.
As bulldozers couldn't move inside, we ourselves razed some shops," said Sanjeev Srivastava whose shop was among those demolished. The razed structures mainly comprised vegetable, grocery and tea kiosks.

The most blatant extensions are in the front row of the market, which has about 31 shops, where traders have encroached into 10-15 feet of the passage space. These traders were seen demolishing the illegal extensions till late in the afternoon, while vendors were scurrying around with their goods to clear the choked passages.
However, some still had their "movable" counters in place. "We have been removing encroachments on our own. But with no electricity, our job has become difficult," said Pramod, a trader.
"Traders were asked to do away with encroachments and the agencies concerned were directed to take action against defaulters after the deadline. We have asked them to fence the retrieved area. The objective is to clean up the area as per the court's directive," said Vohra. The drive would be carried out in a phased manner by the agencies.
Nine properties owned by non-Kashmiri traders in the adjoining Kashmiri Market in NDMC area were also removed on Monday.
The high court has directed authorities to take action against illegal constructions in four other areas - Wazirpur Indusrial Area (Civil Lines zone), Anand Parbat (Karol Bagh zone), Sanjay Basti in Timarpur (Civil Lines) and Razapur (Rohini).

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