The Hindu : New Delhi News : No power, no vote: Badarpur resettlers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

No power, no vote: Badarpur resettlers

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 27. Nearly 20,000 families living in the Madanpur Khadar resettlement colony in the Badarpur Assembly constituency here today threatened to boycott the May 10 Lok Sabha elections in protest against the failure of the Delhi Development Authority to provide them electricity even though they have been settled there for four years now.

The residents of these colonies, living in inhuman conditions, are also planning a demonstration tomorrow at the DDA headquarters at Vikas Sadan "to protest against the apathetic attitude of the NDA Government that controls DDA".

Addressing a press conference here, the Badarpur MLA, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, said these residents were uprooted from places like Nehru Place, Hauz Khas, Green Park, Okhla, Kalkaji, Alkananda, Jangpura and other areas of Delhi and rehabilitated at Madanpur Khadar. They were given plots after due payment but till date they have not been provided with electricity connections by the DDA that is supposed to take up development works in this huge colony. A large number of block pradhans of the area were also present at the press conference.

Mr. Bidhuri said several meetings held with DDA and other officials have yielded no result and people continue to live in unhygienic conditions and without power for the past four years in a metropolis like Delhi. In fact, he accused the DDA of violating the law by resettling these people on the gram sabha land that was in total violation of the Delhi Land Reforms Act. In addition, no compensation for the acquired land had been paid to the villagers till date, he said.

Mr. Bidhuri said DDA was supposed to pay money to BSES for carrying out the electrification work in this constituency but till date it has not paid up. In fact, the BSES is now ready to pay half the money for electricity, which comes to around Rs. 5.50 crores and rest of the Rs. 5.50 crore is to be paid by the DDA.

These families are in an agitated mood and living under bad conditions. They have been left with no other alternative but to boycott the Lok Sabha polls to protest against their apathetic condition and indifferent attitude of the DDA, Mr. Bidhuri said and urged the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, to intervene in the matter.

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