How Can We Just Pack Up And Leave, Ask Residents

"THIS has been our home for sixty years now. How can we just pack up and leave all of a sudden?" said 67-year-old Lakshmi Sunil, who moved to Jangpura's Madrasi camp as a young child.

- Prabhat Shukla @ New Delhi

In an order on May 9, the Delhi High Court directed the Delhi government's Public Works Department to begin demolishing the camp, inhabited mostly by migrants from Tamil Nadu, starting from June 1.

"The rehabilitation of the Madrasi Camp dwellers is essential for the de-clogging of the Barahpullah drain. None of the dwellers can claim any rights beyond the right of rehabilitation, as the land is public land which is encroached upon," the court said in its order. Of the 370 families residing in the area, only 189 have been found eligible for rehabilitation under the Delhi Slum and Jhuggi Jhopri Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015.

The remaining families will be rendered homeless.

A solemn mood prevailed in the camp on Tuesday as residents pondered their uncertain future.

A group of elderly women, most of whose families did not make the cut for rehabilitation, had gathered near the entrance to the camp to discuss the matter. "We have built this community from scratch over the decades. We do not know any other way of life," said a distraught Rani.