MP: Shanties near pond removed amid lockdown; Cong-BJP fight
After all, what was need for beautification? Inhumane work in this sensitive time."
Around 20 shanties built illegally on the banks of a pond in Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh were removed by local authorities on Saturday morning, officials said.
The shanties had encroached on the banks of Ratahara pond, Huzur area tehsildar RP Tripathi said.
“They were allotted houses earlier but were still refusing to leave the shanties,” Tripathi added.
However, the issue soon turned into a political fight in the city with the opposition Congress claiming the BJP government carried out encroachment removal amid the lockdown in place for the coronavirus outbreak.
Congress leader Vivek Tankha tweeted, “An inhumane picture has surfaced in which the labourers were bulldozed in the corona period in the name of beautification. Thousands of labourer families of Rewa’s Ratahra locality become homeless.
After all, what was need for beautification? Inhumane work in this sensitive time.”
In reply, former minister and local BJP MLA Rajendra Shukla said the removal was done after those living in the shanties were given homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
