On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stated that while his administration opposes encroachment, it would not support the BJP-led MCD’s bulldozing of the national capital, which he said would leave a huge number of people “homeless.”
The Chief Minister further claimed that a majority of the national capital has been unlawfully enlarged and questioned the BJP-led MCD whether such a large chunk of the city will be removed as part of the demolition effort. The MCD recently carried out a wave of encroachment demolitions around the city, sparking outrage in some districts of the capital.
“Even we’re against encroachment but we oppose the way it’s being done. They (BJP) are planning to demolish all unauthorized colonies, slums and have a list of partial encroachments. This would make about 63 lakh people homeless…bulldozing won’t be tolerated,” Kejriwal said.
“Delhi has not been expanded in a planned manner. Over 80 per cent of the city is illegal, encroached…The question arises, would 80 per cent of the city be demolished (by BJP-led MCDs)?” Kejriwal added.
Manish Sisodia, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this week, requesting his assistance in the Delhi municipal corporation’s anti-encroachment campaign.
“BJP has made preparations to run bulldozers on 60 lakh houses in Delhi. Out of these, 60 lakh houses are in unauthorised colonies. BJP will break each of these houses. Apart from this, if someone has extended the balcony, or has constructed some extras in the DDA houses, BJP has a plan to demolish 3 lakh such houses,” he said.
