NEW DELHI: Seated on a small cot outside her modest dwelling, 58-year old Geeta clutches a piece of paper—proof, she insists, that her family has lived here for decades. “How can they simply remove us? We have documents. We belong here,” she says, her voice trembling with disbelief.
Geeta is among hundreds of residents of Jhuggi Jhopdi clusters along Yamuna Khadar in Shastri Park, now facing eviction as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) began demolishing hutments on Tuesday.
The action follows a National Green Tribunal (NGT) directive to clear encroachments from the Yamuna floodplains.
The two-day demolition drive covers DDA land stretching from the old Iron Bridge to Old Usmanpur village. The Delhi HC recently dismissed a plea by a nursery welfare association challenging the DDA’s removal of nurseries from Yamuna Khadar.
Upholding the eviction, the court ruled that the land falls under the Zonal Development Plan for Zone ‘O’ and, as per the Master Plan for Delhi-2021, must be cleared of encroachments in the larger public interest. For many residents—migrants from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha who work as labourers and street vendors— the eviction means sudden homelessness.
Naveen Kumar, a construction worker, holds out his scarred hands. “I carry bricks for 12 hours a day to earn a few hundred rupees. And now they say my home will be demolished. Where will my family go?” he asks, frustration evident in his voice. By Tuesday evening, an uneasy silence gripped the settlement near the Iron Bridge.
Most men had stayed home, bracing for the arrival of bulldozers. When they failed to appear, residents feared a confrontation with authorities the next day. Shyam Saini, a farmer who once held land in the area, recalls that local farmers had a 90-year lease, which expired a few years ago.
“Many of us abandoned farming after the government provided land elsewhere, but some still cultivate flowers here,” he explains. While DDA’s horticulture department has planted trees on parts of the land, several farms remain, with makeshift huts where tenants pay rent to landlords claiming ownership. “The authorities must provide an alternative. If they remove us, where will we go?” Geeta asks, her voice barely above a whisper.