The land belongs to 58 people, displaced from the Punjab during the militancy, who bought 80 acres from villagers in 1987. Three years later, a High Court order disallowed construction on development land and this area -- stretching from Badarpur to Wazirabad on the Yamuna's banks -- falls under the category.

Following the order, the land owners got the HC to grant a stay. This meant that though no construction was allowed, nothing already built could be demolished. Around that time, there was nothing except a few kutcha rooms and boundary walls.

B.S. Dhillon, who represents the 58 land owners, however, claims boundary walls were ``repaired'' under a collective decision. But, all the walls are made with similar bricks and doors. Also, local people say the plots are for sale and have come up in a month. And the DDA says no permission was taken before construction.

Dhillon, of course, denies everything. ``We have answered the show-cause notice, saying boundary walls and rooms were already in the revenue records when the stay order was granted,'' he maintained. Some contractors among the 58 registered owners, are not alleged first-time offenders. Some of them, it's learnt, are among those who had built an entire township in Okhla by reclaiming land. Nizamuddin SHO Gurcharran Das -- SHOs are responsible for any encroachment -- says he has told the DDA. ``We will provide the support if demolition needs to be carried out,'' he said.

The DDA, however, is yet to decide on the course of action. ``We saw the boundary walls which had been made without approval and decided to send a show-cause notice,'' said N.N. Puri, director, land management. If it had not been for a few vigilant locals, the fate of this piece of land would have been same as the one behind Okhla, filled choc-a-bloc with buildings.