Demolition leaves many out in cold

Jung 'assures' no further eviction at illegal settlement

A day after hundreds of illegal homes were demolished in south Delhi’s Israil Camp, the affected residents are left with an uncertain future and no roof or wall to protect them from the cold winds at nights and prying eyes in the daytime.

They also are without water and electricity. A few families have been able to dig some household items from the rubble to cook food. But most others are depending on an NGO that has set up some tents and  is providing khichdi to them. Material help from other quarters is yet to arrive.

While their representatives have conveyed to them Lieutenant Governor’s supposed assurances that no further demolition or eviction exercise would be carried out, the people have not been given a go-ahead to rebuild their homes.

Under these conditions, the residents were seen piling up  bricks over which they placed tin or plastic sheets.

Post-demolition, bricks are hot property as residents harbour hope of being allowed to rebuild their homes. Fights over bricks were not uncommon on Wednesday.

One such temporary construction will not accommodate four members of Mohammad Anwar’s family and their goats.

“My mother has undergone a heart surgery and one goat is pregnant, so they will sleep inside,” Anwar told this newspaper. His younger brother, grandmother and he will light a fire at night at any empty spot out in the open and sleep on the ground, he added.

His grandmother Tahira was given only enough time by authorities to pull out some
chicken in a cage from the house before it was brought down. She suffered injuries on her hand, allegedly in the process.

Residents claimed that there were several people, mostly children, sleeping inside homes who were injured because of the demolition. However, Deccan Herald did not come across more than a couple of people who showed injuries.

With rubble all around, there is little space for people to set up even temporary accommodation. Even empty cupboards are placed horizontally to enable children to enter them to keep away from the cold.

The residents have also lost their privacy, forcing many of them to send women with infants to stay with relatives.

Many residents have not been reporting to their private jobs and they say if they are not provided with a residential solution soon, they would also be left jobless.

Labourer Naveen Kumar’s son Aman, who is preparing for National Defence Academy competition, has no access to books as they were buried before he could pick them up.

“Doesn’t it look like an earthquake-hit area? Who would say a government did this to their own people?” said Naveen.