At DDA office, Mehrauli residents queue to prove ownership

A representative of each apartment and land was called by DDA officials where the documents were checked till late night.

Most of the residents said that while their houses have not been demolished yet after a stay from the Delhi High Court till February 16, they are scared as notices have been pasted on their house walls, and the DDA has said that their house comes under the demarcated land.

R K Kapahi (84), a landowner in Mehrauli, said he came to Delhi after Partition at 8 years of age.

“We started living in Mehrauli in a house belonging to Muslims who went to Pakistan. There is no dispute about it. This was given to us under the Custodian of Enemy Property Act, 1968. The nearby land was then auctioned by the government which we bought for Rs 1,200 and registered in 1969. It was never agricultural land,” said Kapahi.

“All the documents we are holding are legitimate and certified. They are claiming that the land we are living on is agricultural land and falls under Ladha Sarai, but it is not true,” Kapahi, a retired MCD employee said.

“I left my house once in childhood. I cannot lose it again,” he said.

Kapahi, Gurdayal and Ashwini Phillip

Kapahi added that he has been roaming around the city since 8 am.

66-year-old Gurdayal Kohli’s family has been living in the area since Partition. “My father came to India from Lahore. We came to Mehrauli and were living in a small house. Later, we bought more land through an auction. In 2007, we built apartments on it,” he said.

“We were not informed by the authorities and the notice was pasted on our house. Ours is a custodian land. The land was ours even before the DDA came into existence. I am the actual heir to the property. Now there are over 50 families staying in the apartments which we later built on the land,” said Gurdayal.

He said that if DDA has all the records, then we have our own. “How can they deny our genuine land and documents? Court is the only option then,” he added.

According to Ashwini Phillip who bought a flat in the same society as Gurdayal and Kapahi, at the time of buying the flat, they got their papers checked at Tehsil and got a loan sanctioned.

“I am still paying for the loan I took. We had our papers checked at Tehsil and all consultants who could possibly check them found that all the records were perfect. All the petitions filed hold all old documents which say that we are a part of the Mehrauli and not Ladha Sarai,” said Ashwini who owns a small business.

He added that the DDA randomly pasted notices on the houses which were next to the DDA boundary. “We are very sure that we are the landowners, and nobody should enter the premises but for just our security we have approached the High Court for a stay order. We just want to make it clear for the DDA so that they don’t come and demolish our house. It is a very scary situation. My parents are diabetic and have hypertension. We spent all our provident fund savings. I have been living in the flat for the last two years. The land was always separate from DDA,” he said.

Arif Khan, a 30-year-old engineer, who bought a flat in Star One society said that it has come as a big shock to his parents who had dreams of owning a house.

“Currently, we live on rent in Ghaziabad. Due to the nature of my job, I have to travel a lot and this is why I wanted to settle down with my parents and have something of our own. I have taken a big loan to buy this house. I don’t know what I will do. We will probably continue to live in a rented accommodation if this doesn’t work out,” says Arif.

Mamta Devi, a house owner who visited the DDA office alone, said that her children have fallen sick after crying for hours due to this demolition drive.

Other residents of Mehrauli

“My husband and my children are back home and due to shock and trauma they have fallen sick. They couldn’t come here today. We are terrified and scared of what will happen if our house is next,” she added.

Mamta had bought the house four years ago and got the registry done in the tehsil.

“We have electricity metre, water bills, house tax and despite that our house has been called illegal,” she adds.

She said that all her neighbours whose houses have been demolished are currently living in the ruins of their houses in tents and the families whose houses which are still not demolished are helping them out with food and other things.