Over 5,000 homeless as Chandigarh administration razes 2,500 shanties in Janta Colony

Indian Express

07-05-2025

As the Chandigarh administration conducted the demolition of nearly 2,500 shanties at Janta Colony on Tuesday, around 5,000 dwellers turned homeless.
The demolition drive was conducted at 10 acres of prime government land, which was illegally occupied by the dwellers, in Sector 25. This land, as per Estate officials, is valued at around Rs 350 crore. Two weeks ago, the administration also demolished 1,000 makeshift structures in Sanjay Colony, Industrial Area Phase 1, which saw encroachment of nearly six acres of prime land.
The drive on Tuesday began at 5 am in the presence of nearly 1,500 police personnel and 1,500 officials from the municipal corporation and UT Estate Office.
With the latest demolition, only two small slums — Shahpur in Sector 38 and another one in Sector 54 — remain, which the Chandigarh Administration also plans to take down soon.
The UT administration has been working on making the city slum-free since the early 2000s. In 2006, it came up with a plan to replace slums with alternative housing. In 2013, it razed colony numbers 5 and 4 in 2022. These slums had occupied over 165 acres of government land. Apart from this, it had razed Mazdoor Colony, Kuldeep Colony, Pandit Colony, Nehru Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Kajheri Colony and Madrasi Colony over the years.
'Leaders had promised us rehabilitation'
Sunita Chautala, a dweller at Sector 25, Janta Colony has been living here with her family for the last 20 years in the area.
She mentioned how politicians made false promises of rehabilitation in exchange for votes.
'The local leaders used to come to us asking us to cast our vote for a party, and in return, we were promised that we would be allotted a dwelling unit in the city area as a part of the rehabilitation,' Chautala said. 'No one turned up today for our help while our houses were demolished. We are forced to move from here and live in a rented house.'
Another resident Monu Devi, whose house was also demolished, said she had arrived in the area 25 years ago after she got married.
She was living here with her in-laws. 'Last night (Monday), we had shifted to a rented property in Dhanas, which has a rent of Rs 5,000 per month.
My husband is ill and I work as a maid in the city, earning Rs 10,000 per month.
How does the administration think we will be able to survive on rent? Neither the administration nor any local political party came to help us,' Devi said.
Sumit Kumar, who had been living in Janta Colony with his 11 family members, said, 'After our house has been demolished, we aren't able to find a house on rent. Since our family is big, the landlord says he cannot allow us to stay for a rent of Rs 7,000.'
Sandeep Kumar, who works as a waiter in a hotel at Mohali, said, 'The government should have thought about allocating another space to us, before conducting the demolition.'
Chandigarh Congress condemns demolition
Chandigarh Congress has condemned the demolition, terming it a 'heartless act against the poor'.
Party spokesperson Rajiv Sharma criticised the ' BJP -led administration' for 'neglecting' the welfare of economically weaker and middle-class residents via a lack of housing schemes in the last 11 years and 'continuous harassment' via penalties and taxes.
Part president H S Lucky called the move 'utterly inhumane,' highlighting the plight of children, women, and the elderly left homeless.
He demanded immediate rehabilitation for the affected families and urged the administration to act with compassion, rather than following what he termed as 'dictatorial and anti-people orders' of the BJP.