Vakil Hassan whose heroics saved the lives of 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi, a few months ago, found his home demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), on Wednesday, February 28, while he was away.
Hassan’s house was the only one targeted in a demolition drive carried out by the DDA in the Sri Ram Colony in Northeast Delhi’s Khajuri Khas area. The authorities have claimed that the demolition was part of an anti-encroachment drive aimed at clearing land acquired for planned development.
Voicing her apprehensions Hassan’s wife, questioned whether a non-Muslim in a similar situation would have faced the same treatment from the authorities. She alleged that the house adjoining was not demolished in the “drive”.
“There are other houses in the same line, it’s a colony. They said it is DDA land. In the area, only my house was demolished. The registry is from 1987, and we have been living here since 2012. It is an 80 gaj plot,” Hassan was quoted as saying by IE.
However, the DDA in their press release claimed that the adjoining house has had a legal stay order.
According to a report by The Hindu, Hassan stated that he had bought the land in 2012 for Rs 33 lakh with an impending loan of Rs 12 lakh.
The newspaper also stated that this was not the first time that Hassan’s house had been demolished. In 2016, Hassan’s house, illegally built in the same area, was demolished in an anti-encroachment drive by the DDA.
In 2017, another house was found constructed in the same area, and several attempts in 2018 and 2022, were made to raze the construction, however, protests by Hassan’s family prevented the demolition.
Hassan’s daughter has alleged that her parents were away when the DDA officials forced themselves into the house, assaulted and took her brother to the police station, reported The Wire. She added that her father was also taken to the police station and his phone was seized.
“Rat hole” miner Vakil, who owns the company ‘Rockwell Enterprises’, led a team of 11 workers and successfully dug through 12 metres of debris to rescue workers who were trapped in the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi for over 17 days.
