Faridabad’s Khori village will face demolition soon, says commissioner

Following her visit, the Commissioner chaired a meeting with senior officials from police and the administration to ensure coordination during the demolition.

Faridabad: Police lathicharge villagers during clashes, in Khori village, in Faridabad, Wednesday, June 30, 2021. (PTI)

“The Supreme Court has given directions to remove illegal encroachment from the Khori forest area. We have to abide by these directions within six weeks. Duties have already been allotted for this task, which will be carried out soon. All officials should work in full coordination,” she said at the meeting.

It was on June 7 that the Supreme Court had directed the MCF to “remove encroachments on the subject forest land without any exception”, giving the civic body six weeks to complete the task. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 27.

Following the court orders, protests have repeatedly broken out in the village, with residents clashing with police personnel. This happened most recently on June 30, when residents were stopped from holding a mahapanchayat at the Ambedkar Park in Khori village, and allegedly pelted stones at police personnel in protest. The latter finally resorted to a lathicharge “to control the situation”. An FIR had been registered against more than 400 people.

Over the last one week, residents have also started approaching police to register complaints against people who sold them the land on which they built their homes, which are now facing demolition. Police officials said a total of 25 FIRs have been registered regarding such incidents so far.