On Thursday, around 500 families of a village in Delhi’s Okhla, near the Uttar Pradesh border, woke up to find two things — a red cross painted on the walls of their homes and a notice saying their houses were illegal and asking them to vacate in 15 days.
The notice issued in Hindi read, “This is to inform the general public that in Village Okhla, at Khasra Number 277 (Khizar Baba Colony, Muradi Road), Delhi, land belonging to the Irrigation Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh has been illegally encroached upon, and permanent houses and shops etc have been constructed. Remove these illegally constructed houses and shops within 15 days. Otherwise, in the event of any damage/harm, you will be solely responsible.”
It was signed by the Ziledar Pratham, Head, Works Section, Agra Canal, Okhla.
Mohammad Danish, 40, an employee with a retail outlet, who has been staying in the area for almost 30 years, was outraged. “Remove the house in 15 days, they have told us. Where will we go?”
He lives in a 10×10 room, on the ground floor of the three-storey building with his wife Shahnaz and two children, Tamanna, 10, and Sikander, 2.
Danish said he was at work when he got a call from his wife about the notice. “It must have been around 10 am when they came and pasted the notices,” Shahnaz recalled.
Danish said on Thursday, around 1 pm, the elders in the locality called for a meeting. “They collected all the documents (Aadhaar cards and land records) from us and have hired a lawyer demanding a stay on the order. We will go to the civil court in Saket,” he said.
Mohammad Asif, 30, another resident, asserted that they cannot protest now. “The time is not right. Whatever we can do is only possible through legal means.”
Recalling his childhood, Asif said that he was born here. “It was pretty much a forest then. The home that I stay in belonged to my grandfather, Dada Malla.”
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, and lives in a single-room, dimly lit house on the second floor of a three-storey building, said, “The ground floor was built around 50 years ago, and then, over the next 20–25 years, more floors were added. Nobody ever gave us any notice before this.”
“We have been asked not to talk about it. The court will decide now,” he said through his half-opened door.
Today, most of these structures are in a dilapidated condition with filth covering the lanes. Residents have rented a portion of their houses to shops and other people in the area.
Mohammad Zubair, 60, has also been served a notice on his three-storey structure, which houses a cloth shop. “Four people, Mohammad Javed, Mohammad Babbu, Dada Malla and Kali Jaitun, had won a case [related to the occupation of the land] against the UP Irrigation Department in the Saket court,” he claimed.
“The UP Irrigation Department has no claim. Our houses are built on the boundaries of the Okhla village. It was ‘lal dore ki zameen’… where cows and buffalo would graze. Then… our relatives bought the land and started staying here,” Zubair added.
A small grocery store owner, requesting anonymity, said they are now living in fear. “We have not been able to sleep at night. We do not know when a bulldozer will come and demolish our house. We have been here for years. Mai toh bachpan se pachpan ka ho gya (I was born here and now I’m 55).”
“If we say anything, it might backfire on us. We have young children. Most of us do small odd jobs, where will we go?” he added.
When contacted for comment, Executive Engineer, UP Irrigation Department, B K Singh said, “Only things that are legal can remain… The process had been going on for a long time. We have been in touch with the Delhi government and police; the moment we got the permission [to issue the notices], we issued them.”
Asked if the land was ‘lal dore ki zameen’, he said, “People can say anything. The UP Irrigation Department is a government body. We have confirmed [that the land in question belongs to the UP Irrigation Department] with the Delhi government, the police, and the revenue department.”
He further said that several houses with different khasra numbers have been issued notices and need to be vacated within 15 days.
B K Singh, Executive Engineer, UP Irrigation Department, said that if there is any illegal work, it can take time to fix it. (Representational image/File) 
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