The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’s Land and Development Office (LNDO) sent out the warning, claiming that the land where the Khyber Pass colony is situated is illegal because it belongs to the Ministry of Defence.
National pistol shooting coach Samaresh Jung, who guided Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh to bronze medals at the Paris Olympics, returned home to the disheartening news that his house and locality are scheduled for demolition in two days. Jung, an Olympian, was given the notice along with other residents of the Khyber Pass locality in the Civil Lines area of the national capital. The notice was issued by the Land and Development Office (LNDO) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, which claimed that the land on which the Khyber Pass colony is located belongs to the Ministry of Defence and is therefore illegal.
The Arjuna Awardee remarked in an interview with IANS that he has no idea why this demolition push is happening.”I am not even aware of it; it is part of their plan. The entire colony has been deemed illegal by them.”
According to Jung, they were informed last night that they must leave the area in two days. “Since the 1950s, my family has spent the last 75 years residing here. We filed a plea in court, but it was denied,” he said to IANS.
He went on to say that packing up everything in two days and leaving the house is incredibly challenging. “We just want some time, it is not possible that you announced today and tomorrow we vacate the house and leave,” Jung replied.
Earlier, Jung, who won five gold, one silver, and one bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, took to social media on Thursday evening to express his outrage, saying it was shocking that the Land & Development Office made a hasty announcement of demolition with only two days’ notice.
“After the euphoria of Indian shooters winning two Olympic medals, I, the team coach, just returned home from the Olympics to the disheartening news that my house and locality is to be demolished in 2 days,” Samaresh posted to X on Thursday evening.
“There has been no appropriate notification or information. How are 75-year-old families able to leave in just two days? The abrupt notification of destruction by @LDO_GoI with only two days’ notice and no clarification of the precise area to be demolished is startling, he continued.
“A dignified exit is the very least I expect as an Olympian and Arjuna Awardee, in addition to community.” I would like clarification on this and at least two months to properly leave,” Jung said in closing.
Along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, and IOA Vice President and fellow shooter Gagan Narang, who is currently in Paris with the Indian contingent as the Chef de Mission, he also tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, and several others in his post.
Last month, a significant demolition effort was launched at Khyber Pass in the Civil Lines neighborhood of Delhi.
The Ministry of Defence originally owned the land, according to a July 9 Delhi High Court order.
On July 1, a notification was sent out requesting that occupants leave by July 4. This was contested, and on July 3 in an urgent hearing, the court allowed the demolition to proceed under the condition that the correct protocols were followed. The court decided during the final hearing on July 9 that the petitioners had not provided any proof of their land title.
