UNAUTHORISED constructions in Chandni Chowk had to face MCD’s hammer once more on Wednesday. The MCD and a force of the Delhi Police sealed off the area from Town Hall gate to Water Fountain in Chandni Chowk. As curious onlookers watched, four properties were completely demolished above the Chabutras, and one property was partly demolished.
Deputy Commissioner, Central Zone, S.K. Mehrotra, said that the MCD had actually targeted 10 properties for action. But, three property-owners got stay orders from the High Court stopping the MCD from demolishing.
Today’s action costituted Phase four of the MCD’s ongoing demolition drive in the area. The action is in persuance of the High Court’s directive to make Chandni Chowk a ‘no-squatting zone’.
Mehrotra said that the MCD did not face much problems in demolishing the illegal constructions on Wednesday, as it had in the previous phases. In the earlier phases, owners locked their properties to stop the MCD from entering the buildings. To solve this problem, the MCD got a permanent order from the High Court, allowing teams to break open locks and enter the building to demolish the illegal floors.
In an unrelated move in the same area, the MCD sealed over 95 shops in Gali Kunjas. The shops had all been built illegally. While the MCD had sealed the same shops once before too, they had been re-opened after the shop owners got an order from the court. Mehrotra said that this sealing was being done Suo Moto by the MCD.
This phase of the demolitions will go on till July. A total of 841 illegal constructions have been earmaked for demolition by the MCD. In this phase, around 175 properties will be demolished, from Chandni Chowk to Sadar Bazar.