GURUGRAM: On Wednesday at approximately 11am, HSVP officials encountered significant resistance while attempting to remove illegal slums along the Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road in Sector 12A.
Congress leaders Pankaj Dabar and Seema Pahuja arrived at the scene with party supporters, urging HSVP officials—including estate officer Rakesh Saini—to provide a 10-day extension for the residents. RS Bhatth, the district town planner (enforcement), was also present as the duty magistrate. Protesters, including slum dwellers and Congress workers, blocked roads with posters and yelled slogans against the government, demanding rehabilitation prior to any demolition.
In response, a police force consisting of approximately 500 officers arrived, detaining the demonstrators, who were released after the operation concluded in the evening.
According to HSVP officials, the slum in question occupies about one acre of government land and has been established for nearly two decades. In 2010, 86 huts were recorded, a number which has now increased to 258. The issue was escalated to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where HSVP committed to rehabilitating the original 86 slum residents by providing them with flats under the Aashiyana Scheme in Sector 47.
“There is encroachment on approximately one acre of HSVP land,” noted Saini.
A shop owner from the Sector 12A marketplace indicated that the slums have progressively encroached on market space over time.
Asking protesters to refrain from hindering the demolition, Bhatth stated, “Several complaints regarding criminal activities in these slums have reached us.”
Abhay Jain, founder of the Manav Awaz Organisation, criticized HSVP for their treatment of the slum residents.
Congress district (urban) president Pankaj Dabar remarked that the ruling party’s claims of providing homes to the underprivileged were misleading. “The Aashiyana flats, initiated during the Congress administration, remain unallotted. Meanwhile, powerful individuals have taken over public spaces, yet the poor face displacement,” he asserted.
Virendra Tyagi, president of the Sector 47 RWA, expressed opposition to the rehabilitation of the slum dwellers in their area.
