Villagers decide to oppose demolition drive

A day after they greeted a team of district officials with brickbats when the latter arrived on a demolition drive, villagers of Sorkha in Gautam Budh Nagar district today decided to reject a government deadline to remove illegal structures in their area.
The Delhi High Court has ordered that shops and houses standing on the edge of a pond in the village be demolished.
But the villagers today held a panchayat meeting under the banner of the Abadi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and decided to oppose the demolition.
Yesterday, when the SDM and Circle Officer of the area had gone there to implement the HC order, the villagers erupted in protest and engaged in stone-pelting and set ablaze a police van.

Following intervention by senior officials, including District Magistrate Ravikant Singh and SSP Preetinder Singh, the villagers were given two days to remove the illegal structures.
The DM was, however, today transferred by Uttar Pradesh government and is being replaced by Unnao DM, Hiralal Gupta. The state government gave no official reason for the move.
"We will meet the new DM and request him not to demolish the shops as these are not unauthorised," said Mukesh Yadav of the Sangharsh Samiti.
Several Samajwadi Party leaders, including UP Legislative Council member Jitender Yadav were present at the panchayat meeting to extend support to the villagers.