Delhi: Slums in reserve forest face axe, residents ask where can we go

NEW DELHI: A forest department notice regarding eviction of several large JJ clusters from the reserve forest area in Southern Ridge has rattled the residents of several settlements, who claim they have been living there for over 30 years and will have nowhere to go.

In compliance with an NGT order, the notice, sent in March this year, identified Sapera, Gulabo, Nala, Israil and Shankar camps and Rangpuri and Rajokari forest areas for eviction and asked encroachers to leave within 14 days. It added the cost of demolition would be recovered from the encroachers found at the site.

In another letter dated March 17, the department asked police for 700 personnel to conduct the demolition drive between April 6 and May 31 in Rangpuri area. However, Bijwasan MLA Bhupendra Singh Joon said he had urged the Delhi CM
and environment minister “to halt the eviction and work on rehabilitation first”Several residents TOI spoke to expressed fears that “bulldozers could arrive any time

“People can’t gulp their food after learning the basti will be demolished in AprilMay. We are raising funds to hire a lawyer. Some of us have been living here since 1980. Most of the residents are from UP, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, with people from both the communities living together. We have met leaders but haven’t received any assurance,” said Jumman Khan from Israil Camp, who came from Varanasi in 2000. One of the biggest concerns is the future of the children. “There are over 10,000 children in these clusters and most go to school. Exams are approaching and an eviction will impact their future. People can’t simply be thrown out on the road. They must be rehabilitated,” said Rakesh Sengar, executive director, Kailash Satyarthi Children Foundation. Alok Singh (16), who studies in Class 10, said his parents have been tense ever since the notices arrived.

“We are all confused. Notices came earlier too but they didn’t have a signature and stamp then. This time, it looks serious,” said Alok, whose family is originally from Bihar’s Chhapra. Sandeep Chauhan, a Class 11 student of Government School in Mahipalpur, told TOI he aspires to join BSF. But, he added, he cannot focus on his studies. “People are forwarding the notices and everyone is scared. Some families have already left. The elders are trying to figure out a solution. The people who live here are very poor, where would they go if evicted?” said Sandeep. His mother hails from a village in UP’s Badaun and works as a domestic helper.

A forest official told TOI on the condition of anonymity that evicting the forest area was “essential for saving the city’s ecology”. “The JJ clusters are expanding. We had tried to remove them, but we need police force for it, which we never get,” he added.