Illegal encroachments on enemy property demolished in Nainital

Nainital, Jul 23 (PTI) More than 100 illegal structures erected on enemy property in Metropole hotel area here have been demolished, officials said on Sunday.

An enemy property is an immovable asset left behind by people who have taken citizenship of Pakistan and China.

The district administration had issued eviction notices to the encroachers who approached the Uttarakhand High Court against the demolition. After their plea was rejected, the demolition exercise was carried out on Saturday.

A total of 134 encroachments were demolished in the presence of police and PAC personnel. The exercise began at 8 am and went on for 11 hours. It was carried out under the supervision of nodal officer and Nainital Deputy Collector Shivcharan Dwivedi, SDM Rahul Shah and Superintendent of Police (crime) Jagdish Chandra, they said.

The demolition comes in the wake of an ordinance passed by the state government which has made the provision for a 10-year prison term for those who encroach upon government land.

The removal of encroachments from the Metropole hotel area will help decongest the city, officials said.

Considered one of the finest hotels of Nainital at one time, the Metropole Hotel belonged to the Raja of Mehmoodabad and hosted the founding father of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his wife Rattanbai on their honeymoon.

After partition, the Raja of Mehmoodabad migrated to Pakistan leaving no legal heirs to the property. Hence, the hotel was declared enemy property according to the law.