'DDA Demolished Our Homes at Delhi's Sarai Kale Khan, Where Do We Go Now?'

On 27 June, DDA demolished around 30 illegal shanties at Delhi's Sarai Kale Khan.

(Image altered by The Quint/Namita Chauhan)

Producer: Varsha

On 27 June, the Delhi Development Authority demolished around 30 illegal shanties at Sarai Kale Khan following the guidelines given by the National Green Tribunal to keep the Yamuna floodplains free from encroachment.

This has resulted in many families being homeless with nowhere to go. I met these families when the visited the demolition site.

"We have been living here for the last 50 years, and the authorities destroyed everything, there is nothing left, we did not receive any notice regarding this before. They came here with their bulldozers and demolished it all."

Resident

Many of these families have spent their entire lives living in these shanties and now are left with nothing at all.

Poonam, a resident said, "I was born and bought up here, in this area, I got married here as well. So, I have spent 25 years of my life in this place. I have two children and my husband works as a daily wager. It’s difficult for us to sustain our livelihood from that and now the government has done this."

"The entire night was so difficult for us with no roofs over our heads. There was no electricity at all. It was pitch dark. All the groceries got destroyed in this. Where will we go now? We’re sitting here in this scorching heat. The government is not helping at all, there is no water to drink in this scorching heat."

Poonam, Resident

The residents complained that all their belongings were gone and they are scared that if there is a rainfall, things would get even worse for them.

"Where are we supposed to go now? We don’t even have any work. We are unemployed. We have lived here for more than 20-25 years, where should we go?," said a resident.

Residents are waiting for the government to help with the basic necessities such as food and water as everything has been destroyed due to the demolition.

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