DDA Mehrauli demolition case explained: Why DDA is breaking down ‘illegal’ houses in South Delhi?

Hundreds of residents of Delhi’s Mehrauli have been protesting against the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has launched a demolition drive against several illegal housing constructions in the area, with the matter now reaching the Delhi High Court.

In an effort to save their homes from demolition in the Mehrauli area, the residents of those houses have reached the Delhi High Court with a plea, seeking the deferment of the DDA Mehrauli demolition drive, with the Delhi HC now seeking a response from the city authority.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the responses of the city government and the Delhi Development Authority to a plea seeking a bar on demolition in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area in south Delhi till a fresh ‘demarcation report’ has been prepared.

Without interfering with the demolition exercise at this stage, Justice Mini Pushkarna issued notice on the petition by Mehrauli Minorities Resident And Shop Owners Welfare and directed that the matter be placed before the division bench (DB) headed by the Chief Justice, where a similar matter is already pending.

What is the DDA Mehrauli demolition case?

DDA has been carrying out a demolition drive in Mehrauli since Friday last week, making this the fifth day that the demolition was taking place. As per the official statement by the authority, nearly 1,200 square metres of government land was reclaimed during the anti-encroachment drive in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area.

The demolition drive is set to be conducted till March 9, as per the official notice, just a month ahead of the G20 meeting set to take place in South Delhi. The anti-encroachment drive is being constructed on alleged illegal constructions in the archeological part.

According to the DDA, the old park has about 55 monuments under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India, the state archeological department, and the urban civic body. On December 23, 2022, the high court refused to stay the demolition exercise proposed in Mehrauli Archaeological Park.

The DDA had then informed the court that no mosque or graveyard was being demolished by the authorities and that only the encroachers will be removed from places in and around the Mehrauli Archaeological Park. It said the exercise will be carried out in accordance with the demarcation report.

(With PTI inputs)

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