High Court order puts brakes on Nuh demolition drive in Haryana

So far 57 acres of land was freed from illegal encroachment at 35 places. The Haryana administration's action drew flak from several quarters, including political leaders, over the anti-encroachment drive.

Nuh (Haryana):Taking suo-motu cognisance of the demolition drive being carried out by the administration in the wake of the Nuh communal flare-up in Haryana; the Punjab and Haryana High Court in its order has put a brake on the demotion drive in the state. Following the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata asked officials concerned to halt the demolition drive. The anti-encroachment drive was underway at Nuh in the state for the past four days wherein more than 700 illegal shanties, including cement structures, were razed by the demolition squads.

So far, 57 acres of land was freed from illegal encroachment at 35 places. The Haryana administration's action drew flak from several quarters, including political leaders. Local residents in Nuh are on the boil that they were not given prior notice before carrying out the demolition drive. On the other hand, officials were saying that action is being taken against illegal structures and no individual is being targeted.

On July 6 at 8 am, a bulldozer ran over a restaurant in Nuh city. The three-storey building was razed within a few hours. Scores of shanties built on government land and several illegal cement structures were demolished so far.

The situation in Nuh post-communal violence was returning to normalcy. But, as a precautionary measure, Internet services have been suspended in the district till August 8. Today was the eighth day of the violence in Nuh when curfew was relaxed on Monday for four hours. Banks and ATM kiosks were opened on Monday from 10 am to 3 pm. Whereas the timing for transactions in the banks was from 11 am to 2 pm while ATMs were opened from 10 am to 3 pm. But, the banks and ATMs reported a thin presence of people compared to other days.