The Hindu : New Delhi News : Jhuggis removed, but problems remain

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Jhuggis removed, but problems remain

Staff Reporter

Some slums have not been removed as they adjoin religious structures

NEW DELHI: Acting on Delhi High Court orders directing removal of all jhuggis from the banks of the Yamuna by April 30, the Delhi Development Authority on Monday said it has managed to remove 2,000 of the 2,150 jhuggis on its land from the designated area.

Claiming that the demolition drive was almost complete, a senior DDA official said the remaining 150 jhuggis could not be removed as they adjoin religious structures and therefore a large police presence would be required for carrying out the operation due to the inherent risks involved.

Noting that even during the demolition drive a lot of effort was required to get personnel of the Delhi police along -- as the force has been stretched due to the ongoing sealing and demolition drives by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi -- the official said DDA finally managed to get adequate number of personnel for carrying out the demolitions. Of the slum dwellers, those eligible for alternative plots would be given land as per government rules, while the remaining would have to find space on their own.

Though on paper DDA has completed the job, those travelling to and from the Capital's trans-Yamuna area are encountering a lot of problems these days as many displaced slum dwellers have simply shifted to the pavements on Vikas Marg. They have not only encroached upon different parts of public land, their presence on the roads is also a major safety hazard for motorists.

As the fatal accident of a six-year-old with a car driven by a woman a couple of days ago shows, the probability of mishaps on roads where the slum dwellers have shifted has increased manifold.

Not only have the slum dwellers taken up all the pavement space, their children -- who run around freely on the busy roads -- also run the risk of being run down. Despite the clear danger, neither the police nor any of the civic agencies have so far bothered to remove the slum dwellers from the roadside. A senior official said the matter would now be decided by the courts as the job of the agencies concerned ends with carrying out the specific orders -- which demanded removal of the clusters from the banks of the river alone and not from the nearby roads.

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