NEW DELHI: A demolition drive carried out against alleged encroachments in a slum cluster near Sunder Nursery at Nizamuddin on Tuesday and Wednesday has rendered over 500 families homeless. Talking to this correspondent, Riyazuddin Ansari, an affected resident, said that they have not been rehabilitated after the demolition and were looking to rent a place in Ghaziabad for Rs 5000.
Sharfat Ali, whose family and relatives were staying in the area for four decades, said they were forced to scout for places to stay near Shahdara and Bhogal. A student, Moinuddin (23), said, “We have no place to go in this city. How will we survive this winter in the open sky?” The residents have alleged that they were not given time to move out their belongings.
“The govt should provide us compensation and rehabilitate us”, said Md Nasim, an autorickshaw driver. Nirmal Gorana Agni, convener of Mazdur Awas Sangharsh Samiti, said that the eviction has caused damage to people as well as natural resources. He demanded that the govt should provide shelter to the evicted families and rehabilitate them.
Reacting to the development, the AAP said that while Delhi govt was creating camps for those living on the streets and constructing DUSIB shelter houses, the BJP was deploying bulldozers on slums in such cold weather. “Violating Delhi HC decision, the Land & Development Office (L&DO) marked and began breaking homes of the poor yesterday. When I showed them papers and asked if they hadn’t received a lawyer’s call, they admitted they had. Yet the bulldozers carried on,” said AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha.
“The BJP, with its anti-poor stance, continues its attempts to demolish the homes of the poor and marginalized people living in slums continuously. In December 2022, shanties were demolished in Okhla, leading to the arrest of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan for opposing it. DDA attempted to demolish slums in Govindpuri. Five months ago, the DDA demolished slums in Kasturba Nagar. Even slums in the Vasant Vihar area were torn down,” he added.