The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) demolished over 14 acres of makeshift shops and hutments in Gurugram’s Banjara market, a popular hub for affordable home décor and furniture, in Sector 52A and 53 on Monday, 26 April.
The demolitions were conducted amid heavy police deployment and officials said that encroachment from government land will be cleared in a two-day drive.
According to The Indian Express, the HSVP land in the area will be utilised for the construction of a group housing society, a bus stand and a college.
Jitender Kumar of the HSVP, said that shopkeepers were notified last week to shift their wares and vacate the government land.
Haryana’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had chaired a meeting with public officials and grievance redressal committee on 21 April and directed officials to raze illegal encroachments in the area.
Second Demolition Drive in 6 Months
A similar demolition drive was conducted by the HSPV on 5 October 2021 where over 250 shanties were demolished in Banjara market. However, shopkeepers rebuilt their shops later.
Officials repeated last year that the 25-acre land was earmarked for the "construction of a college, a bus stand and group housing societies."
HSVP officials had said that the shops had "come up illegally on land owned by the authority" over the last 15 years.
The officials said that owners of around 50 shops had been given two days to vacate their respective shops.
The shopkeepers, however, allege that authorities came without any notice or prior intimation. The homes and the livelihoods of the ones that helped beautify the living rooms of scores of people, are now at stake.
(With inputs from The Indian Express.)
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