'Build a Wall to Hide Us, Don't Evict': Slums Near Pragati Maidan Ahead of G20

The main event of the G20 Summit scheduled for September will be held at the Pragati Maidan.

'Build a Wall to Hide Us, Don't Evict': Uncertainty in Delhi Slums Ahead of G20

(Photo: Eshwar Gole/ The Quint)

Himanshi, 6, was playing in the bylanes of the Janta Camp, a colony of shanties opposite Delhi's Pragati Maidan, wearing an over-sized t-shirt with the G20 logo printed on the back.

"Tuition mein diya kisi ne (some people distributed them at the tuition classes)," said Himanshi, referring to the study group organised by some college students for underprivileged children near her house.

Little does she know that the global G20 event that that India is preparing for might lead to her losing a roof over her head.

India is currently holding the presidency of the G20, an inter-governmental forum comprising 19 countries. The annual G20 Summit will be held in Delhi come September for which Pragati Maidan is the main venue.

"We have been living here for almost 10 years now. Our children go to nearby schools. If we are asked to move from here, what will happen to their education?" asked Janki, 25, Himanshi's mother.

Children of Janta Colony holding G20 t-shirts. 

(Photo: Eshwar Gole/ The Quint)

The Eviction Notice and the Stay

On 28 January, Public Works Department (PWD) officials pasted eviction notices asking residents to vacate the houses within 15 days. While no reason was specified, residents believe that the "clean-up" is being done for the summit.

Before any demolition or eviction activity could be carried out, the Delhi High Court on 14 February ordered a stay on the notice, asking the government authorities to file a report. Uncertainty, however, looms large on the minds of the residents.

'How Do We Uproot Two Decades of Life in Two weeks?'

Hundreds of families have been living at the Janta Camp for decades. The colony is divided into three parts, with a huge drain separating the first one from the other two. Residents claimed that eviction notices were given only to the 50 houses directly opposite Gate 1 of Pragati Maidan on the main road since "they are directly in the public eye."

The camp is home mostly to daily wage labourers and street vendors. This, however, is not the first time they've faced a threat of bulldozers. Similar drives were carried out ahead of the Commonwealth Games that India hosted in 2010.

"We were only asked by the authorities to clear the road and the footpath in 2010 but they did not ask us to vacate," said Mohammed Shami, 44, a daily wage labourer who hails from Bihar. Shami is one of the residents who approached the Delhi High Court over the matter and got a stay on the eviction notice by the PWD on 14 February.

Mohammed Shami, 44, a resident of Janta camp holds the petition he filed in the court along with ID proofs and electricity bills of residents.

(Photo: Eshwar Gole/ The Quint)

"We have been living here for 27 years. How is it possible to uproot our life of 27 years and move out within 15 days? Where would we go at such short notice?" he asked.

Many residents showed proof of their residence in Janta colony — paperwork legitimised by government agency stamps.

"I got an electricity meter installed in my name and address in 2013. Some neighbours have meters installed in 2013 and 2014. I have my Aadhaar card also listed under the same address. At least 30 of the 50 families now have valid electricity meters," said Shami, as he wondered how all of these can suddenly be rendered useless.

Several residents at Janta Camp have meters installed and have been paying electricity bills for years.

(Photo: Eshwar Gole/ The Quint)

A father of five, Shami would switch between his village in Bihar and Delhi in the early days. For the sake of stability of his children's education, however, Shami permanently moved to Janta Camp 27 years ago.

After taking up odd jobs for years, Shami now works in a company that prints display banners during the day and runs a tea stall on the street opposite Pragati Maidan in the evenings. Like Himanshi and most children at Janta Camp, two of his children also go to a New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) school in Kaka Nagar.

After the eviction notices, Shami and other residents, submitted letters to the offices of the Lieutenant Governor (LG), the Chief Minister, the local corporator, the local MLA, and the Police Commissioner's office, before reaching out for help to an NGO called Mazdoor Awas Sangharsh Samiti, which assisted them in the legal process.

Children play in Janta Camp opposite Pragati Maidan as uncertainty over eviction looms large.

(Photo: Eshwar Gole/ The Quint)

'Build a Wall But Don't Evict Us'

Parvati, 65, who hails from Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, has been living in Janta Camp for around 30 years.

"When hall number 6 (of Pragati Maidan) was being constructed, my husband and I worked as construction labourers there. Whenever there are melas here, we work as labourers and set it them up," said Parvati.

Parvati, 65, who hails from Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi has been living in Janta Camp for around 30 years. She worked as a labourer during the construction of hall number 6 at Pragati Maidan.

(Photo: Eshwar Gole/ The Quint)

Like Parvati, many living in Janta Camp find employment in the events organised at Pragati Maidan like book fairs and trade fairs.

"We want a boundary wall of metal sheets to be built so that we are not visible at all. Where will old people like us go all of a sudden?" she said, and added, "If we are not visible at all, there won't be any need to demolish our homes."

Several residents expressed a similar sentiment.

"This is a VIP area. There are foreign dignitaries that usually come here. Whenever there is a VIP event, our children are not allowed to roam around. G20 summit is coming, so if the government builds a wall, we will not be visible. We will be hidden," said Bhupender Kumar, 40, who has been living in the colony for 25 years.

The Uncertainty Over Ownership of Janta Camp Land

The eviction notice said that if the residents failed to vacate within 15 days, they will be moved to a shelter home run by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).

In cases of eviction, a rehabilitation policy by DUSIB needs to be followed. As per the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015, here's how the process broadly goes:

• Any government body that owns the land has to work in coordination with DUSIB and follow the specified set of pre and post processes in the act

• Two surveys are to be conducted of the area to determine the eligibility of the residents before you demolish any place. A notice for conducting the surveys also needs to be given four weeks in advance

• After the second survey, the details of all those who are eligible for rehabilitation are to be collected. The Act has provisions and time frames specified for resolving disputes in case any arise with respect to eligibility

• A notice of eviction is to be pasted in advance. Provisions have to be made for rehabilitation, including enrolment of children in government schools at the new location, access to hospitals and mohalla clinics, sanitation facilities and clean drinking water, etc.

"Firstly, not a single survey was conducted (to establish eligibility) before serving eviction notices. The land belongs to Railways, but the notice has been sent by the PWD. How can they do that? Secondly, there is no clarity on whether the camp is notified by DUSIB, so we will request for the body to clarify that first," advocate Paul Kumar Kalai, representing the residents in the Delhi High Court, said.

"In order to recognise a colony as a 'notified' slum cluster, the DUSIB needs to conduct surveys and have it in their records that so and so slum exists at this particular place. But no such survey of Janta Camp has taken place since before 2005," he further explained.

While approaching the Delhi HC, the residents also presented electricity bills and ID proofs, he said.

Moreover, in case they didn't vacate on their own, they were going to be relocated to Gita Nagar in Dwarka, which is 25 km away, the PWD notice specified.

Gita, who migrated as a child from Tamil Nadu, has been living in Janta Camp for 20 years. She is one of the residents who believes that a wall should be built to cover the slum rather than demolishing it.  

(Photo: Eshwar Gole/ The Quint)

During the hearing on 14 February, the PWD, DUSIB, and Railways failed to provide clarity in court on who exactly the land belonged to and whether the slum cluster was covered under the DUSIB rehabilitation policy.

Justice Prathiba M Singh, while passing the stay order, said that "there is no consensus between all three government bodies" and that there is no clarity on who the land belongs to.

"...It is also not clear as to whether the said JJ cluster is covered by the Delhi Slum & JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015 and if it is a part of the notified clusters list," the court said.

As per the hearing recorded in the order:

• The DUSIB said the land belonged to the Railways and it was pursuant to the directions of the Chief Secretary, Delhi government

• The Delhi government counsel said the minister concerned, Kailash Gahlot, has already directed that no action to be taken until the due procedure on rehabilitation has been followed

• The Railways said that it had not ordered any demolition at Janta Camp and that and physical verification will have to be done to ascertain the land's ownership

• The court ordered to arrive at a consensus on the ownership by conducting a physical survey and apprise the court of the same on 20 February while maintaining status quo

Marathon of Demolitions in Delhi

The stay on the Janta Camp demolition comes on the heels of several such colonies facing demolitions in Delhi.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) started a demolition drive on 10 February in the Mehrauli and Ladha Sarai areas amid police security. Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on 14 February directed the DDA to stop the drives at both places.

Authorities claim that the land that belongs to multiple agencies including the DDA, Waqf Board, and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), is a part of the Mehrauli Archaeological Park.

Encroachments on a DDA land were also demolished at the Yamuna floodplains at Zakir Nagar on 15 February.

In 2023 so far, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has carried out 71 demolitions and 41 sealings of unauthorised constructions in south Delhi's Said-ul-Ajaib, Khirki Extension, Panchsheel Vihar, Chhattarpur, Freedom Fighter Enclave, Greater Kailash, Neb Sarai, Malviya Nagar and Mehrauli, as per the MCD's south zone's statement on 15 February.