3,000 illegal shanties demolished in Gurugram

Gurugram, May 5 (IANS) The enforcement team of the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) carried out a massive demolition drive in Saraswati Kunj colony located along the Golf Course Road on Thursday, in which 3,000 shanties out of 15,000 were demolished.

The DTCP officials said around Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 rent was also being extracted by the locals for these illegal shanties. They said the drive would continue for the next few days.

During the drive, the team also seized material which was used to develop illegal shanties.

The officials said the department had given 3-4 days to the encroachers and even announcements were made to remove illegal constructions on their own.

RS Batth, district town planner, enforcement, said that an enforcement team including 20 officials supported by around 150 police personnel carried out the 6-hour drive in Saraswati Kunj. "The team demolished 3,000 shanties which were set up illegally. We had received several complaints from the residents following which the action was taken," said Batth.

Apart from this, 10 establishments were also demolished which were running illegally.

Batth said the issue was raised in the recently held grievance committee meeting headed by the chief minister where directions to remove the illegal hutments were given.