Panchkula: Protesting residents evicted in late-night swoop at Jhuriwala

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 14

The Municipal Corporation (MC) today resumed dumping of garbage at Jhuriwala hours after protesters were forcibly evicted from the dharna site.

The police forcibly removed the protesters from the site late on Sunday night. The tents were uprooted and a water cannon was used on the protesters, who had been sitting on dharna for the past three days against the dumping of garbage at Jheuriwala.

On Sunday evening, the movement of the police had intensified around the protesters, due to which the protesters asked residents living in sectors across the Ghaggar to gather at the protest site. Around 12.30 am, police personnel, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajkumar Kaushik, started throwing away chairs and other items and uprooted the tents under which the protesters had been sitting outside the dumping ground since Friday.

It is pertinent to mention here that the protesters did not allow the tractor-trailers to enter the dumping site to unload the garbage collected from the city. Their main demand was that the dumping site should be shifted to some other place as the foul smell emanated from the garbage and there was a risk of spreading of diseases.

AAP district head and national executive member Surindra Rathi condemned the forcible eviction of protesters. He said protesters, including residents of Sector 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28, Banna, Madanpur and Jaisinghpura, were protesting peacefully and it was condemnable to remove them at night by using police force and water cannon.

The BJP, through a message on social media on Sunday night, said the dharna smacked of dirty politics of the Congress, which was misleading innocent people living across the Ghaggar. The dumping ground was a creation of the Congress, which first made it in Sector 23 and did not find any other alternative site. Later, when the Congress was ruling in the Municipal Corporation, a proposal was passed to set up a dumping ground in Jhuriwala. Had the Congress-ruled MC found some other site, the situation would not have come to such a stage today, the BJP claimed.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan strongly condemned the government for using water cannon on people at midnight and forcefully pushing and punching protesters, including old persons, women and children.

Councillors Sandeep Sohi, advocate Naveen Bansal and Akkshdeep were present on the occasion.

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