50 Sangam Vihar houses razed in forest dept drive; residents ask: Where do we go?

Sitting in her school uniform as she watches her house being bulldozed, she said, “How can I study at this time? Nobody from my family has even eaten anything since morning.” The families of Aarushi and Anshika are among the 50 houses that have been demolished as part of the drive that began Tuesday.

The exercise is being conducted to free the Southern Ridge of encroachment, under directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). On Wednesday, a senior official of the Forest Department said that around 5 to 6 acres of land was cleared in Tughlaqabad and Aya Nagar.

For Vipin Mishra, 42, the demolition meant the end of hopes with which he had arrived in the city several years ago. “I don’t know where I will go after this. Where will I take my children?” Mishra, from Bihar’s Khagaria, said. He constructed the house in 2021 after investing “all his savings”.

Vipin said a notice was pasted on his house Saturday. Vipin said he had bought the land from one Shyam Bir in 2016. He said, “I spoke with him on Sunday. He had promised that nothing would happen and he will get a stay order…but except for his office and house, all the rest of the houses have been demolished.”

The Indian Express tried to call on Shyam Bir’s number, provided by Vipin, but received no response. Similar tales were narrated by Sonu and Raj Sharma, Abha and Sunil Shukla, and Imran whose houses were demolished. Abha and Sunil, parents of Aarushi, said they had come to Delhi from Ayodhya in 2004.

Many other residents claimed they did not receive any notice.

The forest department said a plantation drive will also be carried out in the area later.