Sangolda witnessed the demolition of houses as per court order on Friday. However, the locals claim that they were residing there for 30 to 40 years and are voters with voting cards, electricity and water connections. If the structures are illegal, how one can get both an electricity connection and a water connection along with a voter ID card is the big question.
Most of the demolitions take place after a house is built and the family stays there for more than 10 to 20 years. If the structures are illegal, it should be addressed while construction takes place and not after the construction is completed. The Sangolda locals claim that they have been the residents there for more than 30 years and nobody questioned them to date.
The demolition took place after serving notice to some as per court order after dismissing the request of the residents for an extension. The houses are built on comunidade land, forest land and in open space. Some residents also pleaded to extend the date as there was a marriage function in the house and one family's children were answering exams.
In this situation, vacating and demolition of the houses is a big setback and trauma to these families. After all, the family lived for so many years without any trouble. In such cases of illegal houses coming up, the government should take action before the construction of the houses. Waiting for 30 years to bring down the structures is of no use and will only affect the people living there. Any land belonging to the comunidade, forest or open space should have notice boards displaying a sign -- "Government property and trespasser will be prosecuted". Only such notices will prevent illegal structures from coming up or else the same process will continue and people will take everything for granted.
