Roots of bulldozer politics go back to Delhi's Turkman Gate, May 31, 1976

By Shekhar Singh
New Delhi, March 12 On April 20, 2022, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat stood in front of a moving bulldozer in a bid to stop the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) from razing the illegal structures in Delhi's Jahangirpuri where just four days ago, on April 16, a communal flare-up broke up during a shobha yatra for Hanuman Jayanti.

Eight police personnel and a local resident were injured, stone-pelting, arson and torching of vehicles were reported during the communal violence.

Incidentally, the anti-encroachment drive took place soon after the Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta had written to the North MCD Mayor, demanding identification and demolition of illegal encroachment and construction by those arrested in the Jahangirpuri violence.

As bulldozers razed around 20 shops and other structures, the Supreme Court ordered to halt the drive. However, despite the court's directive, the drive continued for about two hours.

The crushed cart of a street vendor, children picking up coins and tetra packs from the rubble of a demolished juice box, and humiliated families in Jahangirpuri after the demolition drive have somehow brought back memories of the infamous Turkman Gate demolition during the Emergency 47 years ago which even witnessed police firing and killing of residents of the area due to fierce opposition to the demolition.

Javed, whose small stall to sell cigarettes, cold drinks and water was demolished, said that people who work hard and earn their daily bread are the ones who suffered from that demolition drive.

"Do I look like a rioter? To us, this is all political. We understand what is going on. We are being targeted," he said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi also compared the demolition drive to the Turkman Gate incident of 1976.

"Turkman Gate 2022, history tells you those in power in 1976 are a spent force in present times, this BJP and AAP should be remember," he wrote on Twitter. "Power is not eternal."

Jahangirpuri was not alone, on 10 February this year as south Delhi's Mehrauli Archaeological Park gets a makeover ahead of the G20 Summit in Delhi in September, a massive anti-encroachment drive by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) took place in the Ladha Sarai village of Mehrauli.

The demolition drive was carried out pursuant to hundreds of eviction orders slapped by the DDA last December, which ordered that encroachers remove themselves within 10 days.

The DDA demolished several jhuggis and other multi-storey buildings situated on the border of Mehrauli Archaeological Park, in Ladha Sarai village, in the name of its so-called demarcation exercise to remove the encroachment.

The exercise is alleged to have been pending for years. However, the bulldozers were met with resistance by the residents, who continued to protest against the demolition drive amid heavy police security and knocked on the doors of the Delhi High Court, requesting to stop the demolition.

The DDA continued its demolition drive for sometime despite the order of the Delhi High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Manmeet Preetam Singh Arora to put on hold the demolition and maintain the status quo at the Ghosiya slum colony.

Recently in its affidavit submitted in the court, the DDA stated that the land falls in Mehrauli Archaeological Park which forms part of the Southern Central Ridge where a large number of historical world-famous monuments exist which are protected/unprotected and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

It is stated in the affidavit that according to DDA's land record, the land subject matter of the present petition is false in khasra number 216 and 217 villages of Ladha Sarai, Mehrauli and that Khasra Number 217 is acquired land.

The land has been set apart as green in the master plan of Delhi since the beginning and is to be developed and maintained as green and to be conserved under the Mehrauli Heritage Zone, the DDA's affidavit stated.

However, authorities are taking strict action against the illegal encroachment but there are several areas in the national capital where commercial establishments have been set up on agriculture, forest and residential land.

The authorities were quick to action on Turkman Gate in 1976, Jahangirpuri in 2022 and Mehrauli in February 2023 but even after two years, the authorities have failed to check and recognise illegal establishments in one of the posh areas, Jaunapur in south Delhi, where most of the farmhouse are constructed in Delhi.

Jaunapur is dotted with these illegal factories and commercial establishments under the authorities nose which are even flouting the environmental norms.

The NGT had earlier directed the Delhi government to remove illegal constructions in south Delhi's Jaunapur and Dera Mandi forest areas, saying forest laws cannot be defeated by allowing encroachments.

The tribunal had noted the submission that the proposed demolition on August 18, 2020, could not be held due to the non-availability of the police force despite informing them well in advance to depute sufficient police on the date of demolition.

"While it is true that removing such encroachment is a challenge, if the Rule of Law is not to be enforced, we will have a lawless society. Forest laws cannot be defeated by allowing encroachments and thereafter pleading helpless in enforcing the law," the bench had said.

According to the status report filed by the Deputy Commissioner, South District, there are about 5,000 encroachers and 750-800 structures set up illegally over a period of time and about 3,000 encroachers are living at another camp.

"The area around Bishen Singh Bedi farm in Jaunapur, where several commercial activities like car service stations, fabrication units, and other industrial activities are being run on agricultural land. This not only violates the environmental norms but also poses a serious threat to the groundwater resources that are essential for agriculture," said a resident of the area on condition of anonymity.

"The improper disposal of industrial waste and the use of hazardous chemicals are contaminating the soil and water resources, which in turn can affect the quality of crops and the health of the local community. The depletion of groundwater due to these activities can also lead to long-term water scarcity and jeopardize the sustainability of farming practices in the region," he said.