Demolition Looms Over 172 Homes in Ghaziabad's Babu Jagjivan Ram Colony

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh - Residents of Babu Jagjivan Ram Colony in Rajendra Nagar, Ghaziabad, are facing an uncertain future after the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) issued demolition notices to 172 houses. The GDA claims the colony, established around 50 years ago, was illegally constructed on 2,864 square meters of land designated as a park.

The residents have been given a 15-day deadline to vacate their homes, failing which the GDA will proceed with a demolition drive. This has caused significant distress among the long-time inhabitants of the colony.

Origins of the Demolition Order

According to GDA officials, the issue came to light following an NGT (National Green Tribunal) petition filed in 2023. While the NGT matter is ongoing, a meeting held in 2024, chaired by the then Chief Secretary, decided that "illegal structures, houses, RCC roads, and industrial units" built on park land should be demolished. The current notices are a direct result of these instructions.

However, Sushil Raghav, the petitioner in the original NGT case, stated that Babu Jagjivan Ram Colony was not specifically mentioned in his petition. Raghav's 1962 application concerned a different part of the park land within the same layout, where some industrial units had built a road for their own use. He believes that the GDA, in response to his petition, conducted a wider survey and subsequently discovered the colony's encroachment on park land.

Raghav also suggested that the timing of the notice—issued shortly after a recent NGT hearing on Wednesday—indicates the GDA needed to present evidence of action taken before the tribunal.

Legal Proceedings and Resident Concerns

The government counsel has informed the NGT that a review meeting chaired by the chief secretary is scheduled for July 13. The NGT has granted time for this meeting, with the condition that an action taken report be filed within three weeks. The next hearing for the case is slated for August 29. It remains unclear whether the GDA will carry out demolitions before this date.

Meanwhile, residents are grappling with the news. Ratan, a long-time resident, expressed the collective anxiety: "Our family has been living in this colony for almost 50 years... after so many years, we are being told that it is illegal and our houses will be demolished. If it was illegal, then what were the officials doing while selling it? Shouldn't they be blamed? Where will we go?"