Demolition drive in Mehrauli: 1,200 sqm land reclaimed, says DDA

Nearly 1200 square metres of government land was reclaimed during an antiencroachment drive in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area a day ago DDA officials said on SaturdayThe drive was carried out by the Delhi Development Authority amid police security on Friday triggering protest from various local residents and a blame game between the AAP and the BJPThe DDA on Saturday said that the exercise will continueDuring the demolition programme on 10022023 approximately 1200 sq m of governmentDDA land has been reclaimed from the encroachers so far and the exercise is on to reclaim the rest of the encroached government land for its rightful use by all citizens as a park the urban body saidThe action was taken as part of a demolition drive that will continue till March 9 officials had said on Friday It comes a month ahead of a G20 meeting planned to be hosted at the archaeological park in south DelhiThe court has in the past taken note of the encroachment in the historic park in connection with multiple cases and many people in the last few decades have built unauthorised structures some even fivestorey or sixstorey in the area A notice was issued last December and pasted on walls to alert people a senior DDA official said on FridayA drive has been started by the DDA from February 10 in coordination with the Delhi Police for removal of encroachment from the DDAs land of Ladha Sarai village falling in Mehrauli Archaeological ParkThis park is home to about 55 monuments under protection of the ASI state archeological department of Delhi and the DDA the authority said in a statement on SaturdayAlso Read Maharashtra CBI books MLA Ratnakar Gutte in bank fraud of Rs 409 croreEarlier a demolition order dated December 12 2022 was pasted on the walls of the illegal structures on the land along with markings with directions to the encroachers to remove all the unauthorised construction from the land in question within 10 days it saidAccording to the notice 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 ParkThe sprawling park is dotted with historic monuments and while the area falls under the DDA the heritage structures are maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India ASIOfficial sources said the ASI is also working in full swing for the G20 meet at the Mehrauli Archaeological Park planned to be held early MarchThe High Court of Delhi has on many occasions directed the government authorities to secure protect and preserve the area falling under Mehrauli Archaeological Park by removing illegal encroachment the statement saidThe department is taking the action to remove the unauthorisedillegal encroachment from the government land and also to secure the Mehrauli Archaeological Park from encroachment it saidA demarcation exercise had been carried out as per direction of the High Court in the presence of DDA and Waqf Board representatives by the Revenue Department of Delhi in December 2021 it saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever