3 min readNew DelhiApr 2, 2025 05:45 AM IST
First published on: Apr 2, 2025 at 05:45 AM IST
On Tuesday morning, around 40 slum dwellers reached BJP’s Jangpura MLA Tarwinder Singh Marwah’s house with a card in their hands to remind him of his and his party’s promise of ‘Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makaan (in-situ slum rehabilitation)’.
These were residents of Madrasi Camp, a slum cluster near the Old Barapullah bridge. They recently learned that they are being relocated to permanent housing, but in Narela — more than 50 km away from their present location.
“The houses we saw were very bad. The doors were all broken and the bathrooms extremely dirty… so many flats have been illegally occupied by miscreants,” said Ganesh Prabhu, 47, who was allotted a flat in Sector 4, Narela.
He, along with 50 others, took a bus to check out the flats some days ago. “I got a flat on the second floor there. Here, I run a general store from my jhuggi. I have been running the shop for more than 30 years now. How will I suddenly start doing the job of a labourer?” he added.
The MLA could not be contacted for comment.
Slum rehabilitation was a hot ticket issue in the recently concluded Delhi elections, with both the Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party promising in-situ slum rehabilitation for all slum dwellers in the Capital.
Outside the MLA’s house, the residents showed cards, given to them during the polls, pointing to this promise by the BJP. It read, ‘It is Modi’s guarantee that every slum dweller will get a permanent house where their slum currently is’, and sported photos of PM Narendra Modi and Marwah.
“Marwah just told us that he is going to talk about our issue to the Chief Minister,” said Murugan, another resident.
On March 28, the Delhi High Court in its order noted that the Barapullah “drain is blocked due to the jhuggi jhopri cluster of the Madrasi Camp” and “owing to the fact that the monsoon is likely to arrive in the next 2-3 months…, it is absolutely essential that the Barapullah drain is cleared up…”
The Delhi Development Authority was also directed to hold a draw of lots for the 189 jhuggi jhopri dwellers found eligible for rehabilitation.
Kumari, 60, and her daughter-in-law, who work in nearby houses as house help, washing utensils, also objected to the move. “Wahan kothi nahi hai, toh hum log kaam kaha karenge? (There are no big houses there, so where will we work?” she said.
“It takes 1.5 hours to come and 1.5 hours to go. There are no rickshaws or buses there either, you have to walk everywhere,” she added.
“When we went there, we found out that there are no facilities either. People have to buy water to drink and residents told us there is a lot of theft in the area,” a 45-year-old man, also named Murugan, said.
“I work as an office boy here in Jangpura in a private company. My wife works in houses nearby. Wahan itna door bhejke hume bhooka marenge yeh log (They will kill us of hunger by sending us so far away),” he said.
Slum rehabilitation was a hot ticket issue in the recently concluded Delhi elections 
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