MCG, village spar over temple land

GURGAON: A temple in Wazirabad village, close to DLF Golf Course, has turned into a battleground, with both the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) and the village panchayat claiming ownership of the property. A notice board had been put up by the civic body at the site, proclaiming it to be a municipal property, till some days ago. However, the piece of land now stands bereft of any such notification.
Some trees on the temple premises have also been felled and MCG officials claim that it is a ploy of the villagers to encroach upon the land. The villagers, on the other hand, are unhappy with the MCG's ownership claims and say that the land never belonged to the civic body.
Earlier, irate over the felling of trees, a team of MCG officials led by the municipal commissioner had demanded police intervention in the matter. After preliminary enquiries, the police arrested five youths from Wazirabad village. This further angered the villagers, who held a mass protest on Friday and met the municipal commissioner, the deputy commissioner and the police chief on the matter.
While a conclusive decision in this regard is yet to be taken, the blame game between the two parties continues.
Municipal commissioner Sudhir Rajpal told TOI that he has appointed joint municipal commissioner Anju Chaudhry to personally visit the site and submit a report to the state government. "She has already visited the site and will submit her report in a couple of days," Rajpal said.
When asked about the villagers' protests, Rajpal said the protests were baseless because deforestation was a crime by itself. "The question is not whether the property belongs to the civic body or to the villagers. The youth were arrested because they had caused damage to the property and felled the trees, which is a crime in itself. So if the villagers are protesting against the arrests, we cannot do anything about it. It is for the police department to take a call in this matter," the municipal commissioner said.
Despite several attempts, the village sarpanch remained unavailable for comments.