Terming the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)’s decision to carry out the demolition drive at Kathputli Colony wrong, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday visited the site and promised relief to the displaced families.
The DDA had started removing jhuggis at the site on Monday as part of its ongoing redevelopment of Kathputli Colony. While hundreds of families had already moved out of the colony after being promised permanent homes, 771 applicants had been found ineligible for the new housing, as per the DDA.
After the Authority started removing the j huggis of those who were yet to leave for the transit camp in Anand Parbat or the ineligible applicants, residents alleged they were manhandled by the police. On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court granted a stay on the demolition till November 16.
On Wednesday, the court added that the stay would apply to those who had not accepted the relocation offer of the DDA.
Those who had agreed to relocate would be given two days’ time to leave and demolition of their jhuggis could continue after that.
DDA ‘troubled’ them
Visiting the site on Thursday, the Chief Minister said residents had informed him that the DDA had come to “trouble” them.
He said young girls had been forced to stay out on the streets and there had reportedly been a death of a resident as well. He slammed the DDA and the police for the way the drive was carried out, adding that if it were under his power the exercise would not have been carried out.
He added that he would ask Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, who is the chairperson of the DDA, to make sure the court’s order was adhered to.
He also ordered the district magistrate and sub-divisional magistrate to provide food, water, toilets and tents to those affected by the demolition.
Later, a statement from the Chief Minister’s office said that Mr. Kejriwal had met Mr. Baijal, who had agreed to allow the relief work at the site to continue till the next hearing of the case.
