Pithampur: Slum-dwellers agitated over demolition notice

Pithampur/Mhow (Madhya Pradesh): Slum-dwellers settled near the CC Power drain, in Industrial Area Sector 1, have submitted a memorandum to the Pithampur tehsildar and SDM Pithampur in protest against a notice of demolition of their dwellings.

This notice has been issued by the tehsil office. The slum dwellers, mostly tribals, have demanded that they should be given the lease of the land on which they have been residing for many years now, in accordance with the announcement of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of giving pattas to such residents.

The people have threatened to boycott the upcoming local body elections as they opine that only tribal people are being targeted and that too at the time of rains, and the administration is turning a blind eye towards the encroachments being done by the land mafia.

They alleged that the administration is trying to benefit industrialists. They cited the example wherein slums in Akoliya were removed previously and the freed land was given to a private company. The residents also said that during the recent anti-encroachment drive at Bagdun pond, only the homes of the poor were demolished while the big pucca constructions on the banks were ignored. They accused the administration of ignoring the land mafia which has built a huge multi-storey on the drain land, and instead concentrating on demolishing their houses and slums. The residents said this was in clear violation of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s announcement of giving pattas to people.