Slum dwellers rendered homeless as Delhi cleans up to host G20
When residents of a slum cluster in the New Delhi area heard that the Group of 20 (G20) summit was to be held in the city, barely 500 metres from their homes in Janta Camp, they expected it would benefit them.
Instead, the event has made them homeless.
Dharmendra Kumar, Khushboo Devi and their three children are among scores of people in India's national capital whose houses have been demolished over the last few months. Both residents and activists say this is part of beautification work for the summit, scheduled to take place on Sept. 9 and 10.
Officials from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led federal government, which has been carrying out the demolitions, deny this, saying that the houses were built illegally on government land and their removal "is a continuous activity".
Some of those living in the slum approached the Delhi High Court to stop the evictions but the court ruled the settlements illegal. The city authorities ordered them to vacate by May 31.
Houses in slums like the one in Janta Camp are built over the years, like patchwork. Most of the residents work in nearby areas and have lived within the confines of their small homes for decades.
The demolitions started four months ago. Bulldozers visited Janta Camp on a hot morning in May, and video footage of the demolition shows temporary houses made of tin sheets being razed to the ground, as people who once called them home stand watching, some of them breaking down in tears.
Standing with the family's belongings stacked along the road, Devi did not know where to go.
"We have been living here for the last 25-30 years, where do we go now that our houses are suddenly demolished? We have no facilities or a place to live and we have become homeless and are on the road. I hope they (authorities) get sick and die and they will be cursed by the poor," said Devi, whose husband works as a clerk at the nearby Pragati Maidan, the summit's main venue.
Many of the city's 20 million residents live in largely unplanned districts that have mushroomed into existence over the years. A total of 49 demolition drives were conducted in the capital between April 1 and July 27, with 229 acres of government land being reclaimed as a result, Kaushal Kishore, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs said in parliament in July, adding that no houses had been demolished to beautify the city for the summit.
Officials from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which is leading the demolition and is managed by the federal government, did not respond to repeated calls, messages, and emails seeking comment.
"We thought that all these big people would come, they will give something to the poor and go," said Mohammed Shameem, another resident whose home had been demolished.
"But the opposite is happening here. Big people will come, sit on our graves and eat," he said.
After watching their home get demolished, Devi's family piled their belongings into a three-wheeler which whisked them away to their new accommodation - a single room located 10 km away in a congested neighbourhood, for which they had to pay a monthly rent of Rs 2,500 (US$30.21). But last month, they returned to a part of Janta Camp that remained untouched, paying Rs 3,500 (US$42.13)for a room because it was too hard for their children to get to school from where they had moved to.
The South Asian country will hold more than 200 meetings across some 50 cities involving ministers, officials and civil society, leading up to a marquee summit in the capital New Delhi in the September summit.
India began its year-long G20 presidency in 2022, taking over from Indonesia at a time of geopolitical tumult and uncertainty over post-pandemic economic recovery.
Reuters
