Sikhs to protest land grab

Sikh priests here on Thursday announced mass protests from Friday against the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation's failure to protect land given to the Sikhs from land grabbers.

Head priests of 21 gurudwaras here told the media that it was on March 23, 2005 that the municipal corporation allotted land to develop a park in memory of Sikh Gurus.

The park was named "Dashmesh Vatika". During last 10 years, statues of Sikh Gurus came up at the site.

In the last one year, several attempts had been made to grab the land, alleged the priests and S.P. Oberoi, president of Ghaziabad Singh Sabha.

"The land grabbers have encroached upon the adjoining public land and huge structures are coming up in this green area, which has defaced the Vatika. Their intention is to encroach upon the Vatika land," Oberoi said.

He said the land grabbers had stepped up their activities ever since Abdul Samad became the Ghaziabad municipal commissioner. "The municipal body is not initiating any action."

The municipal corporation had also stopped the cleaning and maintenance of the Vatika despite several requests, Oberoi said.