'We Got a Day's Notice': Residents Left Helpless as DDA Razes Homes in Mehrauli
"I can't explain my feeling. It's like huge rocks are blowing up inside of me right now," an elderly resident said.
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Despite the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and police personnel facing protests from many local residents, an "anti-encroachment drive" in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area went on for the fourth consecutive day on Monday, 13 February. In this photo, the bulldozers can be seen demolishing local shops near the Mehrauli Bus Terminal.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Manmohan, 62, sits and watches his shops being razed to the ground. "I can't put in words how I am feeling. It's like huge rocks are blowing up inside of me right now," he tells The Quint.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Three of his rented shops – a soda shop, an MI mobile store, and Muthoot finance branch – were demolished in the ongoing drive. "Kal bola gaya shaam ko ki aaj thodenge. Ek din me log kya karlenge (They told us last evening that they would demolish today. What can we do in a day?)" he asks. "Apni marzi se todh rahe hain... tanasahi hai. Aap maano ya na maano, ye log thodenge. (They are demolishing at their own will. This is dictatorship. You agree or disagree, they will go ahead and demolish)" he says.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
The drive had begun on Friday, 10 February, and comes a month ahead of a proposed G20 meeting at the park in South Delhi that, according to the DDA, has about 55 monuments under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). In the photo, locals are seen standing with their household items on the road.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
According to DDA officials, nearly 1,200 square metre of government land has been reclaimed during the "anti-encroachment drive" carried out in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park area until Saturday, 11 February. In the photo, furniture is seen being brought out from a house under police supervision.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
One of the protestors tries to console the other. A group of around 50 women had staged a protest in the locality against the anti-encroachment drive. But they couldn't stop the officials.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
A demolition order dated 12 December 2022 had directed "encroachers to remove all the unauthorised construction from the land in question within 10 days." In this photo, a DDA worker is seen razing a coaching institute.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Esha, the co-owner of the institute, watches what she describes as her "dreams being shattered."
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Two of her students help Esha take out the items still intact.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Describing her ordeal, she shares, "The children were doing online classes when they came and started vandalising the institute."
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Richa Thakur, 32, is a social activist and teacher. She shows a report from the Revenue Department which states that Revenue Minister Kailash Gehlot has ordered a fresh demarcation exercise in the area. The minister had said the residents of the area cannot be displaced until a fresh demarcation was conducted. The DDA had based the revenue department's demarcation as its ground for demolition of alleged encroachments.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
"Yahan par na kanoon ki sunwayi ho rahi na kisi cheez ki. Sirf tanasahi dekhne ko mil rahi hai (No law is being heard here. We can only see dictatorship in action)," she says.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Locals watch in despair as their houses and shops are torn down.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
View from a demolished house.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
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