Chandigarh, July 21 -- The UT estate office on Sunday reclaimed nearly 12 acres of government land that had been illegally occupied by furniture sellers in Sectors 53 and 54 for the last four decades. Riding on bulldozers, the demolition team arrived around 7 am but put off its operations for a while to allow traders time to remove their goods. The team began razing the tin structures, which had served as makeshift shops, around 8.40 am and went on till 1 pm, leaving behind a large quantity of debris which will now be cleared by the municipal corporation. A team of 1,200 police personnel and 200 officials from the UT estate office, engineering department, and civil defence, led by deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Yadav and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kanwardeep Kaur, were present at the spot to ensure smooth operations. No instances of violence were reported. The reclaimed land, worth Rs.400 crore, has been handed over to the engineering department for the planned development of residential areas as part of the extension of Sectors 53 and 54. DC Nishant Yadav urged residents to respect the city's planned character and avoid unauthorised occupation of public land. He said such initiatives are vital for Chandigarh's sustainable development. In the last three months, the UT administration has reclaimed 36 acres of encroached land by demolishing Adarsh Colony, Janta Colony, Sanjay Colony and Shahpur Colony, besides the furniture market (see box). Despite the clearance, many traders set up temporary stalls along nearby roads to sellleftover goods, leading to heavy traffic congestion throughout the day. "We have lost everything. We have nowhere else to go," said Shakib Khan, one of the affected shopkeepers. "We are trying to sell off our goods at throwaway prices. Some traders have now shifted to different markets in Mohali," he added. Established in 1985, the unauthorised market housed 116 shops. Located on a key artery connecting Chandigarh and Mohali, the market had become a major traffic bottleneck, with haphazard parking severely hindering the flow of vehicles. In the early 1990s, the UT administration had tried to remove the shops, but the traders got a stay order from the Punjab and Haryana high court in 1993. The administration had purchased a part of the encroached land, falling in Badheri village, in 2002. When it renewed efforts to clear the land, the shopkeepers again approached the court for a stay, however, the court dismissed the petitions in September 2023, upholding the administration's right to reclaim the land. In June 2024, the UT issued an eviction notice, asking shopkeepers to vacate the land within a week. However, the shopkeepers submitted representations to the UT administration, prompting then DC Vinay Pratap Singh to temporarily halt the demolition drive. On January 9 this year, the UT estate officer issued eviction orders to the shopkeepers, directing them to vacate the encroached land within 15 days. The order clearly stated that no alternative site for relocation will be provided. The deadline expired on January 24, and a demolition drive was initially planned for January 28, but again put on hold....