“We Will Fight”: Activist Rajeev Sethi On Kathputli Colony Crisis
“if the Raheja Builders don’t deliver on time, the residents will fight back,” says Rajeev Sethi
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The two-day demolition drive carried out by the DDA, assisted by the Delhi police on 30 and 31 October 2017, rendered thousands of families homeless in the Kathputli Colony. Each family was assigned a 12x8 feet room in the Anand Parbat Transit Camp. As they now wait for new homes, we spoke to Padma Bhushan awardee, designer and art curator Rajeev Sethi, who is a long-time advocate of the Kathputli Colony residents’ rights.
The DDA and Raheja Builders have offered them homes in two different places. The first in high-rise flats complex, that will be made at Kathputli Colony only after it is redeveloped, and the second in Narela in North-West Delhi. However, the residents remain sceptical.
The displaced residents also have their doubts.
Residents say the schools in the colony are not equipped enough to handle students from all their families, forcing many to drop out.
Since the time of demolition, the number of homeless has risen.
Sethi is heartened by the residents’ newfound awareness of their rights.
Rajeev Sethi feels that the residents of the Kathputli Colony are more aware of their rights now than they were forty years ago. Hence, if the Raheja Builders don’t deliver on time, the residents will fight back.
Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim
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