The Hindu : New Delhi News : Unsettled life in Bawana resettlement colony

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 06, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Unsettled life in Bawana resettlement colony

By Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI, JULY 5 . As many as 17 people, including 12 children, have died here in the Bawana resettlement colony -- where people from the Yamuna Pushta area were recently relocated -- in a matter of three months, reportedly due to waterborne diseases and unhygienic living conditions.

Living amid poor sanitation facilities with no access to clean drinking water or health care and with meagre means to earn a livelihood, the 500-odd families staying here in the one-room plastic-sheet-covered houses are the worst sufferers among the three relocated colonies on the outskirts of the Capital.

And with the medical facilities offered being what they are, people here are forced to travel long distance to get treated for ailments like jaundice, cholera and diarrhoea. Also, eye ailments are on the rise.

"The deaths have come in quick succession owing to the bad conditions in the area. There are open drains, no access to clean drinking water, no dispensary and the worst is that the relocation is so far away from the Capital city that we have to spend Rs. 30 just for commuting each day. Most people here are rickshaw-pullers and the women used to work as domestic servants. Since they have been relocated so far away there is little means to earn some money even for the daily upkeep,'' said a resident Lal Mohammed, whose both children are down with diarrhoea.

The area is not without any amenities. But facilities like Sulabh toilets are expensive for the poor residents. "Sulabh charges Rs. 2 for a bath. When it is difficult to get two square meals a day, we can't use this facility. This leads to unhygienic life leading to more ailments,'' said Mohamed Mustafa who lost his four-year-old child last week.

Chocked with grief and a sense of helplessness, the residents here refuse to speak about their living condition, but the frustration comes through soon enough and they say: "We challenge the Delhi Chief Minister to stay here for just two hours. The flies, the mosquitoes and the humidity have together made life hell for us and the deaths in the area have broken our spirit. If they did not want us in the city they should have just asked us to go back home and not throw us in this hell hole,'' said Abda Khatum who also lost her two-and-a-half month-old baby to dysentery. She said that having paid for the plot of land she isn't sure where to go now.

While the low-lying area, where the huts are located, is being constantly flooded with sewage water, people here claim that it is the lack of a burial place which is insulting. "The Government has brought us here and forgotten about us,'' explained Najma, a resident of the area.

Moved by the living conditions here, a non-government organisation, Chetnalaya, informed that they were planning to file public interest litigation on behalf of the families. "We are not asking the Government to provide them with top-of-the-line facilities, but give them what has been promised to them, including shelter, clean drinking water, sanitation facilities, a means to earn a livelihood and a place to bury their dead,'' said a spokesperson of the organisation.

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