Ahmedabad launches biggest demolition drive in over a decade at Chandola Lake

Watch how Ahmedabad authorities unleashed 50 bulldozers, 50 dumpers, and 2,000 police in a massive pre-dawn crackdown on April 29.

Transcript

00:0050 bulldozers, 50 dumpers and 2,000 police personnel.

00:09This was Ahmedabad's biggest anti-encroachment operation in over a decade.

00:20At the dawn of April 29, 2025, bulldozers rolled into the Chandola Lake area in Gujarat's Ahmedabad,

00:27clearing thousands of illegal slums in the city's largest eviction drive since 2009.

00:41The operation, spread across nearly 1 lakh square meters of government land, is not just a routine eviction.

00:48It carries multiple layers.

00:50The settlements were flagged by authorities for alleged unlawful activity and the presence of undocumented immigrants,

00:56particularly illegal Bangladeshis.

00:59Second, this demolition drive comes just days after the Pahlkam terror attack on April 22,

01:04raising questions about whether the crackdown was linked to national security concerns.

01:09And third, perhaps the most crucial, was the environmental crisis.

01:13Officials warn that illegal encroachments are suffocating Chandola Lake,

01:17putting the entire ecosystem at very high risk.

01:20The operation began with the demolition of an illegal farmhouse owned by Lala Mehmood Pathan,

01:25also known as Lallu Bihari.

01:27Pathan is accused of forging rent agreements and supplying Aadhaa cards and other identity documents to immigrants.

01:34Bagged by 20 reserve police units, AMC deployed 50 teams for the demolition.

01:54Power was cut as a safety measure.

01:55By the day's end, over 2,000 slums, mainly in Siasat Nagar and Bengali Vass, were demolished.