Shopkeepers protest drive

The demolition squad,which had gone to raze illegal sheds in Chimni Chowk on Tuesday,had to face stiff protest from local councillor Jagbir Singh Sokhi and the shopkeepers of Gill Market.

The councillor claimed that the Building Branch team of the MC had damaged the floor of the market which was not an encroachment. Sokhi said,“The market has been built on MC land and the demolition team has caused severe damage. Now the town planning wing will have to pay shopkeepers for the damages.”

Zonal Commissioner Amarjit Sekhon,however,said shopkeepers were not able to produce any document on record. “We are ready to check the papers if the market association can show any,” he said. The councillor,however,said the area residents were removing the encroachments on their own and hence there was no need for the team to demolish the structures.

The ward residents have now been given two additional days to demolish the illegal structures on their own.