NEW DELHI: Delhi Gaon Dehat Bachao Yatra, a mega foot march that began on October 13 to raise voices against the long pending issues of the rural belt of the city, is gradually gaining momentum with villagers regularly participating and highlighting problems in their areas.
The Palam Khap 360, which is leading the rally, said their march reached the Hauz Khas village on Friday where the locals alleged that their cremation ground was not functioning.
“People told us that land authority had restricted access due to unknown reasons for the past two years,” Surendra Solanki, Palam Khap chief said. However, when the villagers along with the Khap chief visited the place, it was opened.
The natives of Hauz Khas village expressed that they have been facing problems over performing last rites due to the cremation ground issue.
“The villagers have decided to boycott the upcoming Assembly polls, in case their issues are not addressed,” Solanki said.
Notably, on October 6, scores of people coming from the city’s villages gathered at Jantar Mantar for an indefinite protest against a number of unresolved problems in the city’s rural areas, but they were removed by the police in the evening of the same day.
Delhi has more than 360 under-developed villages in it which has received cursory attention compared to urban areas. As per locals, they are confined in cramped and unhealthy pockets by the Lal Dora (Red Line) which has reduced them to living in inhuman conditions lacking in basic civic services such as water, power, healthcare and good education. What is even more alarming is that these villages are not under any ward or rural panchayat, which leaves the fate of the villagers in a pitiful state. “Our movement isn’t against any party, but against those who neglect the problems faced by the villages,” the Khap Panchayat chief said.