Noida land scam: Project swept them out of their homes
People rendered homeless due to forced eviction and displacement during the Commonwealth Games gathered in the capital to demand probe into the alleged atrocities of the state government and wanted immediate rehabilitation plan.
By Durgesh Nandan Jha, TNN |
NEW DELHI: The irony could not have been more stark. On a day when Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated the Barapullah elevated road, slum dwellers and poor labourers evicted during its construction were crying for attention. People rendered homeless due to forced eviction and displacement during the Commonwealth Games gathered in the capital to demand probe into the alleged atrocities of the state government and wanted immediate rehabilitation plan.
As per rough estimates prepared by the Housing and Land Rights Network NGO, more than two lakh people lost their homes in different Games-related projects, including the ‘beautification’, ‘cleaning ’ and ‘security ’ drive. At least 200 homes in Dargah Bhure Shah camp and Madrasi camp falling along the Barapullah drain were demolished. Some inhabitants were given plots in Savda Ghera in northwest Delhi but a significant number of people remain homeless.
Said Shanti, a 62-year-old woman, ‘‘I used to sell paan-bidi on the footpath in Lodhi colony. When work on the Games began, police forced us to leave. Even after the Games, we were not allowed to start work. My house in Prabhu market was also demolished. I have 11 grandchildren, born to two deceased sons, and due to lack of money, they are starving. We have no place to liveeither.’’
‘‘Jhuggis from approximately 20 sites across Delhi were demolished in the run-up to the CWG,’’ claimed Mansur Khan, leader, Beghar Mazdoor Sangathan (homeless labourers association ). Social activists alleged that three schools were also demolished in the run-up to the CWG — Pragati Wheel School on the banks of Yamuna river, Deepshikha Primary School in Gurgaon and another school in Viklang Basti.
‘‘In many cases, no prior notices were served and household items were crushed under bulldozers. Poor people — beggars, street vendors and construction workers — lost all their possessions,’’ said Shivani Chaudhry, a social activist. She said that the government agencies looking into corruption charges against Games officials should also look into the human rights violations.
‘‘We will place these issues before the parliamentarians,’’ she said. Activists demanded immediate return of Rs 678.91 crore diverted from the special component plan (Scheduled Caste Sub Plan) for the purpose of the Commonwealth Games by the end of the financial year 2010-11. ‘‘The entire SCP fund should be spent on programmes directly benefiting affected people,’’ said Paul Divakar, one of the activists.
As per rough estimates prepared by the Housing and Land Rights Network NGO, more than two lakh people lost their homes in different Games-related projects, including the ‘beautification’, ‘cleaning ’ and ‘security ’ drive. At least 200 homes in Dargah Bhure Shah camp and Madrasi camp falling along the Barapullah drain were demolished. Some inhabitants were given plots in Savda Ghera in northwest Delhi but a significant number of people remain homeless.
Said Shanti, a 62-year-old woman, ‘‘I used to sell paan-bidi on the footpath in Lodhi colony. When work on the Games began, police forced us to leave. Even after the Games, we were not allowed to start work. My house in Prabhu market was also demolished. I have 11 grandchildren, born to two deceased sons, and due to lack of money, they are starving. We have no place to liveeither.’’
‘‘Jhuggis from approximately 20 sites across Delhi were demolished in the run-up to the CWG,’’ claimed Mansur Khan, leader, Beghar Mazdoor Sangathan (homeless labourers association ). Social activists alleged that three schools were also demolished in the run-up to the CWG — Pragati Wheel School on the banks of Yamuna river, Deepshikha Primary School in Gurgaon and another school in Viklang Basti.
‘‘In many cases, no prior notices were served and household items were crushed under bulldozers. Poor people — beggars, street vendors and construction workers — lost all their possessions,’’ said Shivani Chaudhry, a social activist. She said that the government agencies looking into corruption charges against Games officials should also look into the human rights violations.
‘‘We will place these issues before the parliamentarians,’’ she said. Activists demanded immediate return of Rs 678.91 crore diverted from the special component plan (Scheduled Caste Sub Plan) for the purpose of the Commonwealth Games by the end of the financial year 2010-11. ‘‘The entire SCP fund should be spent on programmes directly benefiting affected people,’’ said Paul Divakar, one of the activists.
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