‘Illegal’ bungalow built inside Tilpath Valley biodiversity park at Sainik Farms demolished

Adil said that around 11 pm on Thursday, DDA officials came to their bungalow along with JCB machines, and asked the family to vacate the premises. “We were sleeping when the officials arrived… We managed to get our belongings out in a few hours with the help of the police personnel who accompanied the DDA team… Seven JCBs razed the house,” he added.

Adil claim led his family had bought the land from a farmer in 1993 and built the house before the land was designated as a green area under a biodiversity park.

“Since 1999, we have been paying property tax, phone, gas pipeline and electricity bills… It’s not that the government didn’t know we were living here… It would be alright if we lose the case in HC but the court should decide what will happen to the house,” he said.

Adil further said that on December 5, they had moved the Supreme Court over the matter and the SC will hear their plea on December 17.

While Adil claimed that the HC had orally told DDA “to not touch the property”, a DDA spokesperson denied the same. “During the hearing in HC December 10, the court did not grant any stay in the said case. However, it stayed the demolition of three other properties that had come up on the same land,” said an official.

Maintaining that Azher’s bungalow was an illegal structure, the official added, “A total of nine properties were identified for the first phase of demolition in this area. Of the nine, five properties – two farmhouses, two semi-built farmhouses and one bounded vacant plot – were demolished on December 5, resulting in the reclamation of around 4 acres. Around 0.5 acre was reclaimed after today’s demolition.”

According to DDA officials, the bungalow does not come under the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Special Provisions) Act, 2014, which protects jhuggi jhopri clusters from punitive actions like demolition.

Sainik Farms is an unauthorised colony where houses have come up on land not approved for residential use under the Delhi Master Plan. These colonies lack basic infrastructure and have been developed without necessary permissions, often on agricultural or government land. Residents typically possess general power of attorney or sale agreements, which are not legal ownership documents.