India, Feb. 15 -- Mohali is once again in the middle of a familiar urban drama. Only this time, the soundscape is not of construction drills but of demolition hammers. In recent weeks, civic authorities have resumed anti-encroachment drives across parts of the city, targeting unauthorised extensions to homes and commercial properties. The action follows directions from the Punjab and Haryana high court and comes after officials admitted earlier enforcement had been only partial. For residents, the issue is layered. On one hand lies the promise of planned urban growth in one of Punjab's fastest expanding cities. On the other is the lived reality of families and businesses who gradually stretched balconies, covered setbacks or extended shopfronts in response to shrinking space and rising costs. The demolitions therefore sit at the intersection of law, urban design and social negotiation, making them less about concrete and more about how cities enforce order while acknowledging human improvisation. The current demolition drive is part of a city-wide push to remove encroachments after a pause during the festive season. Authorities urged residents to voluntarily remove illegal structures before enforcement began, warning that demolition costs could be recovered from violators. On the ground, the action has been visible. In areas like Phase 3B2, joint teams of the Municipal Corporation, GMADA and police demolished illegal extensions after giving notice periods. In some cases, owners removed encroachments themselves. Urban planners have long argued that unchecked extensions strain infrastructure. Narrowed streets affect emergency response times. Covered drainage lines increase flooding risks. Informal commercial spillovers often block pedestrian movement. In fast-growing satellite cities like Mohali where plotted housing meets market-driven growth, these pressures multiply quickly. Yet residents counter that planning frameworks often lag behind real demand. Families grow, home offices emerge and small businesses operate from residential plots. What begins as survival often ends up labelled as violation. Demolition drives rarely remain purely technical exercises. In Mohali too, residents have protested, saying they respect court orders but want clarity and uniformity in enforcement. The biggest anxiety is selective action. When drives appear neighbourhood specific or complaint-driven, they risk being seen as punitive rather than corrective. Civic authorities, meanwhile, argue that enforcement must begin somewhere and cannot wait for universal consensus. There is also a deeper governance question. Indian cities historically oscillate between strict regulation and informal adjustment. Regularisation schemes, penalty-based approvals and periodic drives create a cycle where illegality is both discouraged and quietly accommodated. Mohali's current crackdown signals a shift toward stricter compliance, but whether it sustains beyond headline cycles remains to be seen. At its best, the demolition drive could reset Mohali's planning discipline. Clearer building enforcement improves safety, protects infrastructure and preserves planned urban form. For a city aspiring to be a technology and residential hub, predictability matters. At its worst, it risks becoming another chapter in India's stop-start urban enforcement story, where drives generate fear but not long-term behavioural change. The real test lies in what follows demolition. Transparent building approval systems. Faster plan sanctions. Practical guidelines that recognise changing lifestyles. And perhaps most importantly, communication that treats citizens as participants rather than offenders. Cities are living organisms. They stretch, bend and occasionally overstep. Mohali's current moment is less about punishment and more about deciding what kind of city it wants to be. One that grows by negotiation or one that grows by rulebook. The answer will likely be somewhere in between, written not just in policy files but in the everyday geometry of balconies, shopfronts and streets that decide how people actually live....