In another controversial move, more than 500 homes in Makarba village have been served demolition notices, to make way for a town planning road passing by these dwellings which are just behind Crescent School. The notices were issued after the state urban development department gave its prelimnary approval for TP 84A for Makarba area.Its worth mentioning here that its been a little over a year since residents of Fatehwadi clashed with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and police over the demolishing of 127 illegal properties at Safan Apartments.

While AMC officials claim that the TP road has been cleared to provide access for an upcoming EWS cluster and school, local residents who are already in panic, claim that a Saurashtra-based BJP politician owns a large plot nearby and the road is being approved for access to that large plot. “We have served notices to more than 500 houses for demolitions of either their wall or a room, to make way for the road. We have been assuring the residents here that the TP road will provide access to an upcoming EWS hosuing.“

Sources in the state urban development department are evaluating the basis on which town planning schemes, involving dense chawl clusters mostly in minority-dominated areas were rejected. These include areas like Sarkhej, Makarba, Maqdoomnagar, Shahwadi and Vejalpur, and pockets of Saijpur Bogha and Hansol. Town planning schemes of these areas were rejected recently on the grounds that implementing them would lead to large-scale demolitions, spurring law and order problems.