The incident occurred this morning when the MC enforcement staff visited Sector 23 to clean the pavements of hedges, railings and boundary walls for the recarpeting of roads. A large number of residents gathered at the site to protest against the operation and demanded that the drive be started from Sector one. The pick and choose policy adopted by the MC would not be tolerated at any cost, the residents said.

They also accused the MC and Administration of having hatched a conspiracy to uproot the downtrodden and the economically poor people.

When contacted, Arora said he encouraged the removal of encroachments, but was against the way the drive was launched. He said the drive should be carried out systematically and started from Sector one where `kanal' houses are located.