Delhi demolition drive: With no place to call home, residents battle the elements

Also read: ‘Heap of clothes fell on toddler, smothered her’

A few feet away, Delhi government trucks could be seen bringing in blankets for the families. While these are being distributed, some residents climb into the trucks and scramble for blankets leaving the others empty-handed.

There is no electricity in the area and the food, being prepared at two spots in the vast slum, is being distributed on sheets of newspaper. While the elderly lament that they have been stripped of their homes, the children complain that they cannot find their books. “I’m in Class XII. I have an exam tomorrow and I can’t find anything,” said Vivek who studies in the adjoining government school. “I will go to school tomorrow, even if I can’t write the test,” he adds.

Read: Opposition parties attack Delhi government

Government officials at the spot say more than 2,000 blankets had been provided and food arrangements were being made for nearly 2,500 people. Residents, however, claim that over 5,000 people live in the area. They also claim that the government’s services are limited to those near the entrance of the slum.

The interior of the slum is a dilapidated road with no lights and is used to ferry cement from dealerships in the area. “Most of us work in the cement factories. We have lived here for 15 years and they suddenly tell us to gather all we’ve got and leave in half a day; in this weather too,” claims Aftab, who stands outside a tent put up by the government.

After the railways razed their shanties, the father of the toddler — who died hours before the demolition — told a PTI reporter that his child would have been alive had officials been generous and given them some time to leave.

Read: Death of six-month-old clouds demolition drive by Railways, blame game begins

Mohammad Kalim sat by his wife, who had been in a state of stupor since they lost their six-month-old child, Rukhsana. “When officials came knocking, we quickly began to pack our belongings. In the confusion, we did not realise that a heap of clothes had fallen on her, which turned out to be fatal,” Kalim told the reporter.

“My child, who had just started seeing the world, would have been by my side today had officials been generous and given us prior notice,” he added.