Key Points

After razing unlawful constructions in Jawahar Nagar near Koyali Creek last week, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Tuesday initiated another major demolition drive in the Sahajanand area.

Initially met with resistance from some locals, the demolitions gained traction as residents and property owners began cooperating with the authorities. The absence of any legal stay further enabled swift action.

The committee, chaired by Municipal Commissioner Shalini Agarwal, has streamlined coordination between the SMC and state departments, enabling decisive action against constructions that have encroached on creek land - a major contributor to urban flooding in recent monsoons.

In the Varachha zone’s Boot Bhavani area alone, 19 illegal buildings had cropped up along the creek.

With no legal hurdles in place, the demolition work commenced on Saturday under the watch of civic officials. Authorities have emphasised that freeing up the natural drainage channels is essential for flood mitigation and public safety.

The drive is expected to continue in other affected zones in the coming weeks, as the SMC aims to reclaim the city's waterways from decades of illegal occupation.

Gujarat has witnessed a sweeping series of demolition drives across its urban and semi-urban areas over the past year, targeting illegal encroachments, unauthorised constructions, and criminally linked properties.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation carried out one of the largest operations at Chandola Lake, clearing over 1.5 lakh sq m of illegal encroachments in Phase 1 and launching Phase 2 to remove an additional 2.5 lakh sq m, deploying 3,000 police personnel.

Simultaneously, in the Malek Saban Lake area, around 450 unauthorised houses were razed, freeing 15,200 sq m of public land. In Junagadh’s Uparkot fort area, 59 illegally built structures spread over 16,000 sq m were demolished, reclaiming land worth over Rs 50 crore.

The Jamnagar Municipal Corporation took action in the Bedi port area against encroachments by the so-called Saicha gang, demolishing 11 major structures and freeing land valued at Rs 18 crore.

In Bhavnagar, the High Court-ordered drive resulted in the demolition of 85 religious structures, including four temples and a mosque, near the Bortalav area. Kandla port (Kutch) witnessed one of the most significant clearances, with 580–600 illegal huts being bulldozed to restore over 150 acres of creek-side land, estimated at Rs 400 crore in value.

In Borsad (Anand district), the municipality removed 220 illegal structures, mostly homes, reclaiming land worth Rs 40 crore.

Meanwhile, Surat’s Varachha zone, prone to creek flooding, saw the start of a targeted creek clean-up in Jawahar Nagar and Sahajanand, with municipal teams demolishing illegal constructions on the banks of Koyli Creek - initially met with resistance, but later supported by the locals.

In Rajkot, 60 properties belonging to habitual offenders were razed under a state-level crackdown on criminal encroachments.

- IANS