Gujarat govt justifies demolition drive in Dwarka, says illegal houses linked to drugs trade

Speaking on the issue in the House, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi lashed out at Congress MLA Imran Khedawala for objecting to the demolition drive, saying those building seven-room houses on seashore can not be termed as poor as claimed by the Opposition legislator and added the matter should not be politicised.Earlier this month, the state government initiated a mega demolition drive against unauthorised structures on the coast of Devbhumi Dwarka district.

Speaking on the issue in the House, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi lashed out at Congress MLA Imran Khedawala for objecting to the demolition drive, saying those building seven-room houses on seashore can not be termed as poor as claimed by the Opposition legislator and added the matter should not be politicised.

Earlier this month, the state government initiated a mega demolition drive against unauthorised structures on the coast of Devbhumi Dwarka district. Many illegal structures on government land were razed at Navadra and Gandhvi villages.

In a letter to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Monday, Congress legislator Khedawala along with former party MLAs Gyasuddin Shaikh and Mohammad Javid Pirrzada claimed the district administration had demolished many Muslim religious structures such as mosques in violation of rules during the drive.

These Congress leaders also sought rehabilitation of ''poor fishermen'' affected by the drive, claiming the government has destroyed their houses without providing them alternative accommodation.

In his response in the House on Tuesday, Minister Sanghavi said illegal structures in Devbhumi Dwarka were used for hiding drugs.

''Illegal structures have come up at some places on Gujarat's coastline. During our drive against drug trafficking, we noticed that such illegal constructions, especially at Beyt Dwarka and Navadra villages, were used for hiding drugs,'' he said during a discussion on budgetary demands for the Home Department.

At first glance, such constructions appear as if they were meant to provide shelter to the poor. But, they were used for hiding drugs, said Sanghavi, adding narcotics worth Rs 150 crore were recovered from one such place and another drug consignment of Rs 275 crore was seized from a second site in the district.

''We have razed all such illegal constructions as per the law,'' asserted the minister.

''Imranbhai (Congress MLA Imran Khedawala) had claimed the demolition drive (in Dwarka) affected poor people. So let's see the history of these poor people. During the last one year, we have caught several drug peddlers, including Altaf from Surat, Mehbooba from Ahmedabad and Salim from Morbi. We have demolished their illegal constructions,'' said Sanghvi.

The government is firm on taking action against such elements, he said.

''These people first build houses on government land illegally, then they enjoy free electricity by taking illegal connections, then they get free gas connection under a government scheme...they even use water provided by the government. And then, they ruin people's lives by selling drugs. We are now taking action against them one after another,'' said the minister.

Justifying the demolition of unauthorised houses in Navadra village last week, Sanghavi said there was no other option because the land on which these structures came up was reserved by the government for different welfare projects for citizens.

''Locals had built houses having seven rooms on such land. A person can not be called poor if he lives in a seven-room pucca house with a 108 inch TV. Can you build a seven-room house on the seashore by just selling fish? This issue (of demolition) should not be connected with politics,'' he said.

The minister also announced a plan to recruit more than 8,000 police personnel this year.

He said the government was thinking of installing large vehicle scanners at key entry points of the state to detect liquor hidden in cargo consignments.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)