Demolition along Yamuna floodplains: ‘They are removing poor people’

Four bulldozers, two tractors attached with rakers and police arrived for demolitions. Residents were given 15 minutes to clear their homes, before the machines set to work. “We only got an hour. If they had given us at least two or three days, we could have cleared all our things. Gareebon ko hata rahe hain (They are removing the poor),” said Lali (25).

Hiralal, 40, a worker, was at a construction site Tuesday when he heard that the bulldozers had arrived. “We have ration cards, IDs, and the government sends us water tankers. If it is not on the list of JJ clusters, it should have been the DUSIB’s responsibility to identify it. We should have at least got enough time to appeal. The (HC) order had just come. Residents of the area had procured a stay on demolitions in 2018. Maybe there’s hope in the Supreme Court now,” he said.

Mohan Lal, 73, said he had lived in the area all his life. “We’re packing up now. Last year, they made three ponds and said they want the rest of the land to make a park. In 2010, they destroyed homes here and moved some people. The rest of us are still here,” he claimed, pointing to his electricity bill from 1982 that mentions Bela Estate as the address.

The Bela Estate area is being reclaimed for Asita West, a 200-hectare project and one of the 10 parts of the riverfront project.

A senior DDA official said, “On Tuesday, there were demolitions at three locations. In the past month, there have been demolitions at around 20 locations. We are not concerned with rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is as per DUSIB’s policy for those places that have been identified…”