When Olympic medalists Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh’s coach Samaresh Jung returned from the Paris Olympics on Friday, he received a notice to demolish his house. Olympian and Arjuna Award winner Jung’s house is in Khyber Pass area of Civil Lines area. He has received the notice along with other residents of the area. The Land and Development Office (LNDO), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Housing, has issued a notice to residents, stating that the area and land on which the area has been developed is owned by the Defense Ministry.
LDNO has said that the houses and other structures built in the Khyber Pass area have been built illegally. Talking to the media, Samaresh Jung said, ‘This is in their plan and I am not even aware of it. They have declared the entire colony illegal. Residents of the area were informed about the demolition drive only last night, and now they have only two days to vacate the entire colony. My family has been living here for the last 75 years since the 1950s. We went to court but our petition was rejected.
Elaborating on the difficulties of vacating the house in just two days, Jung said it was impossible to do everything in such a short time. He said, ‘You want to run a demolition drive, but it should be conducted in a proper manner and people should be given time. How can a person vacate his house in just one day?’ Samaresh Jung represented India in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006 and won five gold, one silver and one bronze medal.
Demolition in the Khyber Pass area began last month, and several legal proceedings are also underway. Residents were given a notice on 1 July, asking them to vacate the area by 4 July. However, residents challenged the notice, delaying the demolition drive by a few days. At the final hearing on July 9, the court concluded that the resident petitioners failed to provide any evidence that the land belonged to them and refused to stop the demolition proceedings.