THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Dec 20: The demolition of a boundary wall of a place of worship in the town, under the anti-encroachment drive launched by the Medininagar Municipal Corporation has exposed the goof up of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation leading to massive squatting on the road by the irate public last night demanding action against the high handedness of three or four personnel of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation who are alleged to have overreacted and overshot on Thursday.
The squatting down was fierce which went on for three hours or so at night. There were full-throated slogans against the City Commissioner of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation and the staff of the corporation.
Alleged violation of legal protocols in demolition drive
The situation could have gone either way but for the patient handling of it by Sadar CO Amardeep Walhotra and Officer in charge of the town police station Deobrat Poddar the dharna on the street ended on a note of demand for stringent action against those personnel of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation who didn’t navigate the legal procedures properly before bringing down the 15 to 20 feet long boundary wall of the place of worship in the town.
The public that sat on dharna in the street too didn’t go amok at all but forcefully and vigorously raised its voices.
The boundary wall was on the public land by way of encroachment say 12 to 15 feet inside the public land. The boundary wall was on public land but the way it was brought down was done not in accordance with the set rules for removal of the encroachment.
Under the Jharkhand Public Land Encroachment (Amendment Act) 2016 there is a rule to be navigated legally for removal of the encroachments like measurement of public land to find out the size and volume of the encroachment, notice to the encroacher to remove the encroachment within the specified period of time, red marking from where to start the removal of the encroachment failing which intervention for removal by the administration is to be made.
The administrative intervention is to be supervised by a magistrate on duty designated for it.
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Here in the case of the demolition of the boundary wall of a place of worship, the magistrate was alleged to be absent when the personnel of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation started demolition of the wall.
The management of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation reiterated there was public miking about the drive against the encroachment and so the plea that the action was sudden or abrupt was not tenable.
Action demanded against Municipality personnel
Chief of the Mahavir Nav Yuvak Dal Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal told The Jharkhand Story correspondent today, “Rules were not followed before the demolition. The destruction was done by the personnel of the corporation most mindlessly. The management of the place of worship was not given time and opportunity to act on its own.”
Jaiswal reiterated, “The place of worship is more than a hundred years old. The boundary wall of it was raised with money collected from the faithful. The way the boundary wall was brought down by a handful of the personnel of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation was illegitimate and smacked of ill motive as due course of legality prior to such demolition was not followed.”
Jaiswal further said, “We have given a written complaint addressed to the officer in charge of the town police station in which we have identified names of the personnel of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation like Anurag, Ishtiyaq, Shahid, Sheran etc who got the destruction done with ill motive.”
“Stringent action must be taken against these personnel”, demanded Jaiswal.
Jaiswal further alleged, “There are identified faces of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation here who openly and blatantly indulge in malpractices and collect money for themselves from the roadside cart pushers etc. These unscrupulous people exploit the poor.”
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Three personnel removed
Circle Officer Amardeep Walhotra said, “I can’t make any comment on whether the procedures before the demolition of the boundary wall on the public land was followed or not as in the mob of the squatters my utmost task was to avert any more unseemly situation and also to ensure lifting of the road jam at the earliest.”
City Commissioner Md Jawed Hussain told The Jharkhand Story correspondent today “We are investigating the episode in all transparency and neutrality.”
On being asked that three or four of the personnel of the Medininagar Municipal Corporation are figured out by the public for the corruption and mess created on Thursday to which City Commissioner said, “We are taking all facts into account in regard to the figured-out personnel about whom the public has so raised fingers.”
“No errant personnel will get away. He is to face the music. Just to have a fair and free relook at what went so amiss the three personnel are now offloaded,” added the City Commissioner.
There was a market shut today in the town of Daltonganj in protest against the demolition drive.
Municipality to raise demolished boundary wall
In a sharp development aiming at harmony and public tranquillity, the Medininagar Municipal Corporation has agreed to raise the demolished boundary wall at the same location from where it was dislodged yesterday evening.
City Commissioner Md Jawed Hussain has confirmed this restoration of the demolished boundary wall saying, “Let it retain its previous status. Inquiry will be going on.”
