The Plight of the Slum Dwellers: Thus Speaks...

The cabinet cleared a bill staying demolitions of slums for one year.

Thus spoke the politicians:

Votebank politics has ensured no more shops will be sealed in Delhi and no illegal construction will be demolished for an entire year.

A new bill approved by the union cabinet stops the huge clean up of the capital ordered by the Supreme Court.

"The bill is aimed at giving relief not only to shopkeepers but to people who have illegal constructions etc.," said Jaipal Reddy, Urban Development Minister.

Thus spoke the law:

When he contended that these people were living on the sites since the 1970s and had come to Delhi in search of work as they had no means to earn a livelihood back home, the Bench said: "Nobody forced you to come to Delhi. Is there a right to live in Delhi only? Stay where you can. If encroachments on public land are to be allowed, there will be anarchy."

In Govindpuri yesterday, a stone's throw away from Project Why, residents turned violent not comprehending why the authorities were bent upon destroying what they themselves had built.

Thus spoke the people:

The residents, who earlier lived in jhuggis, say that the DDA took the initiative to build houses in the area. They say that they have been living here for the past 20 years. The DDA also provided them with the ration cards, which they still possess. They said that they had all the details of the documents that the DDA then provided to the residents.

On a street corner four special children waited for their scooter not understanding why it did not come today.

Thus thought children:

they live under the dread of having their homes destroyed.. all four are residents of the famous 'transit' camps where their parents moved almost 20 years ago, a place given to them by the authorities and which they thought belonged to them, now they have been given demolition notices and told that the space is actually a green belt.. they cannot understand all this.. they simply wonder why they were not able to come to the centre yesterday and no one is willing to explain it to them.. they are unable to comprehend why their parents are angrier than usual, why they did not go to work, why everyone sat on the street and shouted.. why there world was suddenly turned upside down.. mom even forgot to cook...

Where are we? In what world? Where nothing seems to be working the way it should.

A couple of years back, Gita Verma, who wrote Slumming India and who runs an activist forum had come to Project Why to share her views with the community. One of the things she said and which today rings so true, was that no one could legalise what was illegal and that one day the law would catch up. She went on to say that people should ask for legal housing and as a town planner she knew that there was sufficient land in Delhi to accommodate everyone provided the will was there.

When one sees the confusion that prevails one cannot but recognise the writing on the wall. Once again vested interests are avoiding the issue and though one has respect for the judiciary, it is sad to see that their judgment targets the weakest link. The poorest of the poor.

Why did the authorities not evict the first bamboo pole that was dug in, or the plastic sheet that was used for shelter? Over the years people have built homes, albeit on unauthorised ground, but then everyone turned their eyes away for a few pennies or more.

Who lives in those ramshackle homes in a city where habitat for the poor is non-existent, when even the servant quarters are now rich sources of rent? It is people who are part of our lives.

Pushing the red letter day by 365 days will not solve anything unless a policy for the relocation of people is worked out or a plan for their being forcibly sent away is drawn up, back to where they came from, irrespective of what it entails: loss of a vote bank, loss of working labour.

Delay tactics cannot work anymore. Thus speaks reason.