Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A joint team of Indore Municipal Corporation and local administration on Thursday had to stop its anti-encroachment drive on the catchment area of Bilawali Pond within minutes following an apparent political intervention.
Prodded by the directives of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), IMC along with local administration started clearing illegal constructions to protect water bodies from unauthorised development on Thursday. The first target was a godown and farmhouse illegally built on the land surrounding Bilawali Pond.
The removal gang accompanied by administrative officials arrived with heavy machinery at Bilawali Pond, where a large concrete farmhouse and plywood godown, located roughly 30 steps from the pond’s water channel, had been erected. The constructions belonged to a local property owner, Honey Chhabra, who had received an eviction notice days earlier.
As the removal gang initiated demolition by dismantling parts of the godown’s shutter and adjacent wall, a sudden phone call from corporator Priyanka Chauhan, who questioned the SDM about proceeding without her knowledge, brought the process to a halt within a few minutes. The IMC gang, after waiting for over an hour, ultimately suspended the demolition and left the site.
In response to the incomplete action, Zonal officer Sunil Singh Jadon, who confirmed that several unauthorised farmhouses had been built on government land near the pond, cited instructions from higher-ups as the reason for halting the demolition exercise. Juni Indore SDM Ghanshyam Dhangar claimed that the drive was stopped midstream as plywood godown was stocked with goods worth crores and the owner has been given time to safely clear the premises.
Dhangar insisted that the delay was logistical rather than due to political influence.
