The Hindu : New Delhi News : Next door to Prime Minister's House, an area of darkness

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Next door to Prime Minister's House, an area of darkness

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Slum clusters on the periphery of Race Course Road are one of the most neglected lots in the Capital

Residents have voter identity cards, ration cards & survey records, yet there is no trace of progress
All they have is a common drinking water tap, little power, overflowing toilets and heaps of garbage

- Photo: S. Subramanium

AREA OF NEGLECT: This here is the scene at Bhaiyaram Camp near 7 Race Course Road, the official residence of the Prime Minister, in New Delhi on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: The children joke that they live across the street near the Prime Minister's residence. But as you cross the road that divides the country's most important address, 7 Race Course Road, from the slum clusters on the periphery of the Race Course grounds, it is a journey from what is the very best to the most neglected.

Huddled together and surrounded by filth is a cluster of 100-odd slum dwellings which stand on the land once owned by the Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Mansingh. Cut to the present, the people living in what has come to be known as Bhaiyaram Camp are disappointed that they have been left untouched by the current frenzy of development linked to the Commonwealth Games.

“We have been promised development for years now. We have voter identity cards, ration cards and survey records, yet all we have today is promises made by politicians over the years,” says a resident of the camp, wishing to remain anonymous. Pointing to overflowing toilets, heaps of garbage and blocked sewers, he adds: “The stench is unbearable, our children have to walk through this everyday and our health remains at risk.”

Proximity to the Race Course grounds too has compounded their misery. “Though men in the camp are mostly employed in various ways at the Race Course grounds, we have to face great difficulty when the races are on. Entry and exit to the camp are restricted. Also in the mornings and evenings when the horses are let out, it is dangerous for the children,” says Ramesh Kumar, the Pradhan of Bhaiyaram Camp.

Water for drinking and other uses comes from a common tap, electricity is limited though paid for, and roads are punctuated by potholes. “The roads were laid in 1982 when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came to inaugurate a temple here. The roads were repaired once thereafter, but by and large they have remained neglected,” he says.

A little away from Bhaiyaram Camp is another cluster of hutments and semi-pucca houses. With no nomenclature, this side of the habitation has “near Masjid on Race Course” as its address. “Even a few minutes of rain is enough to flood the area. We have slush for days and when children go to school with muddy shoes they get punished,” complains Naeem Ahmed, a resident.

There is one tap for the 80 households, no sewer lines, and only a single street lamp. “I dial the municipal complaint number so frequently, I don't need to look up the phone book any more. But their response is always the same; they promise to come and fix things. Meanwhile, we continue to suffer,” rues Ahmed.

Residents are upset that while the Capital is undergoing massive changes, they have been left out of the development juggernaut. “Forget a dispensary or a school, we have to live in jhuggis that are barely big enough for two people. After at least two surveys, the Land and Development Office has identified 133 households in Bhaiyaram Camp, even though there are 512 for rehabilitation,” says Kumar.

Waiting for rehabilitation, the residents want the Government to ensure that they are not uprooted to the faraway fringes of the city. “Seventy per cent of the women here work in the nearby embassies and markets, the men work in the Race Course grounds. So if we are sent to someplace like Bawana, it will mean an end to our earnings,” says Kumar, demanding in-situ rehabilitation by the powers that be.

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