A fresh enforcement drive in DLF Phase 3 has left around 40 families homeless overnight after the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) sealed Amaltas Apartments in S Block on Thursday, reigniting demands for protection against sudden eviction.The four-storey building, with a basement, had illegally been converted into multiple residential units in violation of building norms. Under the rules, the plot was permitted to accommodate only four families, but had been subdivided into nine units on each floor and five in the basement. It had been turned into a high-density paying guest-style complex.For the families inside, the action came without warning. Many residents claimed they were at work when the sealing took place and returned to find their homes locked.One tenant, who has lived in the building for two years, said his parents had arrived from Patna on the same day and that neither the authorities nor the property owner had issued residents an advance notice. Arranging alternative accommodation at such short notice, he said, was extremely difficult.Another occupant, requesting anonymity, said his elderly mother lived with him and that the sudden eviction had left the family in distress. He said that they had paid nearly Rs 1.5 lakh in rent just a week earlier and were now struggling to find a place to stay.A third resident alleged that some of his belongings remained inside the sealed premises and said several senior citizens in the building were struggling to cope with the situation.However, DTCP officials maintained that residents had been given around two hours to remove their belongings before the building was sealed.Defending the action, District Town Planner (Enforcement) Amit Madholia said the building was being run as a “small colony” in blatant violation of norms.“A plot meant for four floors and four families had been converted into a multi-unit commercial operation. The action was taken after following due process,” he said.Madholia blamed the property owners for the hardship faced by tenants.“All property owners were served notices in advance. It is the landlords who chose to keep their tenants in the dark and continued to earn money from illegal units. They are responsible for this inconvenience and should be penalised for putting families in such distress,” he said.The owner of Amaltas Apartments disputed the claim, asserting that no prior notice had been served on him by the department.The sealing forms part of a wider crackdown ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court against illegal construction and commercial misuse of residential plots across DLF Phases 1 to 5. The drive has already seen scores of notices, demolitions and revocation of occupation certificates. Officials say enforcement will continue until court orders on restoration are fully implemented.As the crackdown intensifies, residents across DLF colonies are demanding a buffer — advance notice, a window to vacate, and a mechanism to recover deposits and belongings — so that enforcement against violators does not repeatedly translate into families being thrown onto the road.