No more bulldozer surprise in Kanpur, 15-day notice mandatory

In accordance with the Supreme Court guidelines, government departments will now follow a standard operating procedure (SOP) before carrying out any demolition action in Kanpur, a senior official in the district administration said.

The new procedure mandates that no property demolition will take place without prior notice and a 15-day waiting period. Before any bulldozer action, the department concerned must serve a notice on the affected party and send a copy of it to the district administration as well.

The 15-day countdown will only begin after the concerned department receives an auto-generated email acknowledging the notice from the district magistrate’s office. This new process aims to prevent sudden demolitions and ensure that the affected parties have adequate time to respond.

Dr Rajesh Kumar, the additional district magistrate (ADM-city), has been appointed the nodal officer to ensure compliance with these guidelines. Dr Kumar confirmed that the district magistrate has issued directives to this effect to all tehsils, Kanpur Development Authority, the Kanpur Municipal Corporation, the irrigation department, and the public works department. These departments have been instructed to create official email IDs through which copies of demolition notices will be sent, a move designed to protect them from allegations of backdated demolitions.

A long-standing complaint regarding property demolitions has been that the departments concerned failed to serve notices or provide affected parties with a reasonable time to respond. Dr Kumar said, “The mandatory 15-day notice period will now be enforced, starting from the moment the department receives an auto-generated acknowledgment of the notice.”