Delhi: 100 shops razed in Harkesh Nagar demolition drive

New Delhi: Around 100 temporary shops in Harkesh Nagar, part of the Tughlakabad Assembly constituency, were demolished on Tuesday during an anti-encroachment drive.

Acting against illegal constructions, authorities deployed bulldozers to demolish unauthorised shops and roadside shanties.

Several residents and shop owners expressed anguish over the action.

Deepak, a shopkeeper, said, "They did not give us any time. We asked them for just half an hour, but they refused. As soon as they arrived, they started running the bulldozer. When we requested for time to take our belongings, they did not even allow that. They even broke our refrigerator.

"There were four to five shops here and all of those had vending certificates. They had told us that if we displayed the certificates outside our shops, they would not demolish them. Still, they destroyed everything. We have been here for more than 40 years."

Mintu Gupta, another shopkeeper, told a PTI reporter, "Aren't they supposed to be the protectors of the law? They should have given us some time to take our belongings. Instead, they took the law into their own hands. What kind of protectors of the law are they? They did not even give us five minutes. At the very least, they should have issued a notice. We have a vegetable shop here."

Similarly, Sanjay Gupta said, "This is wrong. They have demolished the place, but they should at least allow us to keep our shops. We have been here since 2002. I have a fruit shop. Now, we will have to put up our stalls here again."

Expressing disappointment, Shyam Sundar, who had a shop in the area since 1986, said, "I was running the shop since 1986. I have my licence, but still it was demolished." He said many of the shopkeepers had licences and still, all those shops were demolished. He added there were a total of 150 to 160 shops.

Sundar also said, "We had a jalebi-samosa shop. My leg got injured in an accident. Because of old age, I am not able to work. They took all our stuff. We had taken a loan as well. We have the licence for this shop. The government gave us the licence to run this shop. Everything is broken. If the MCD had to break it, they should not have given us the licence." Some of the shopkeepers blamed the MCD, but there has so far been no official statement from the civic body regarding the demolition drive.