East Delhi | Special Correspondent: Arun Sharma

After nearly a decade of unchecked illegal occupation, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) finally swung into action, clearing massive encroachments around the Anand Vihar Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT). The drive, initiated following strict directions from the Delhi High Court, has once again exposed the uncomfortable truth—encroachments do not survive without administrative silence and institutional negligence.


The key question troubling residents now is stark and unavoidable:
Where were the police and civic authorities when illegal structures mushroomed right under their noses for 10 long years?


COURT ORDER TRIGGERS ACTION, NOT ADMINISTRATIVE WILL
According to officials, the encroachment removal drive had been pending for years, but only gained momentum after judicial intervention. What flourished over time were unauthorised shops, makeshift stalls, and roadside occupations, choking one of East Delhi’s busiest transit hubs.


KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE OPERATION
Encroachment removal pending for nearly 10 years
Special drive conducted from 10 AM to 5 PM
Over 300 illegal stalls and structures demolished
Deployment of 3 JCB machines and 7 trucks
Heavy police presence to prevent resistance
Despite the scale of the operation, officials admitted that resistance was minimal, as prior notices had already been issued—raising questions about why enforcement failed earlier.


SYSTEMIC COMPLICITY OR CONVENIENT IGNORANCE?
Local residents allege that illegal encroachments continued with tacit consent, claiming that enforcement agencies looked the other way as long as informal arrangements and local “adjustments” remained intact.
“Encroachments don’t appear overnight.
They grow because someone allows them to,”
said a resident, demanding accountability beyond bulldozer politics.


MCD ISSUES WARNING, PUBLIC DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY
The MCD has assured strict surveillance to prevent re-encroachment and has instructed traffic police, PWD, and other line departments to maintain continuous monitoring.
However, public anger is now shifting focus from the encroachers to the system itself:
Who enabled the illegal occupation?
Will action be taken against negligent officials?
Why does enforcement wake up only after court intervention?

CLEARANCE IS DONE, BUT THE REAL TEST IS TRANSPARENCY
While the illegal structures are gone, the credibility of urban governance remains under scrutiny.
Bulldozers can remove encroachments—but only accountability can prevent them from returning.