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Journalism of Courage
PUNE, Oct 7: Eight policemen, three of them senior officers, were injured as violence erupted during an anti-encroachment action being undertaken by the Pimpri Chinchwad New Township Development Authority (PCNTDA) in Kalewadi and Thergaon area today. The trouble broke out as the mob pelted the anti-encroachment squad and police with stones after most of the demolition was complete.
Four big shops and a godown at survey number 12 along Thergaon-Kalewadi road were demolished on the second day of the drive. Around 9500 sq ft of land was cleared in the action.
The PCNTDA office was under seige by the police in anticipation of a morcha by the residents. The morcha did not take place. A delegation of Kalewadi traders association later met PCNTDA’s chief executive officer B E Nagrale and urged him to stop the demolition. They assured Nagrale that they would remove all unauthorised constructions and encroachments after Diwali. Nagrale accepted the proposal on the condition that a written assurance be submitted. The traders were scheduled to hold a meeting late in the evening regarding submission of the assurance.
Nagrale reiterated that residential constructions were not being demolished in the drive. Commercial constructions coming in the way of road widening or on open land will only be demolished, he said adding that the drive was not complete.
