New Delhi: Residents of the Kathputli Colony say that reckless demolition has endangered their safety. This colony of street performers is the site of Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) first ever ‘in situ’ slum development project.
A bulldozer partially tore down an over 10 feet of a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) wall on Monday, which is precariously close to the settlement. “My house shook, the ground shook and my child started crying. He is unwell,” Nasrin said.
She is one of the many local residents who are unwilling to move to the transit camp, a temporary settlement camp to accommodate nearly 2,800 families to be relocated from the slums of Kathputli Colony in Shadipur.
DDA officials said they had the necessary permissions to carry out the demolition. But locals and civil rights activists, resenting the DDA’s resettlement scheme, claimed that by bringing down the wall, the authorities want to create a passage for bulldozers to enter the slum.
“I have denied signing the documents twice,” Nasrin said. According to the locals, demolition of a public toilet in the area recently has put several houses at risk.
“The walls have developed cracks,” Amit Kumar of National Alliance of People’s Movements said. He alleged that locals are being coerced into signing up for the transit campus. Delhi police and paramilitary troops have cordoned off the entire Kathputli Colony.
In 2009, the central land owning agency had signed a Rs 6 crore-deal with Raheja Developers to build multi-storey flats in the area to resettle resident families and use the remainder of 5.2 hectare Kathputli Colony land to build commercial property. After a gap of 7 years, the authorities have sprung into action and want to shift the residents to the transit camp at Anand Parbat.
But the locals are unwilling to trust the Delhi Development Authority. “We want the DDA to settle the dispute in court. DUSIB (Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board) should conduct a survey to prepare a fresh list of beneficiaries. In 2014, the police had cordoned off the area in a similar fashion and they had even tried to coerce people into moving to the transit camp. None of the politicians came to help us out,” Sunil Datt, a local leader, said.
