From deliveries to deaths, 1,200 families live their lives out in the bitter cold

Saleem and Shabnam, a ragpicker couple, were expecting a child soon, but that did not deter the defence estates department teams from demolishing their illegal tenement in Vijay Nagar during peak winter.

- Peeyush Khandelwal

GHAZIABAD:

Left homeless since the past two days, Shabnam, late Tuesday night, gave birth to a girl under the open sky while fighting to ward off the bitter cold.

An anti-encroachment drive is currently being carried out by the officials from the Raksha Sampada department at Meerut, and over 1,200 families have been removed from 161 acres of defence land, which was heavily encroached upon for decades.

The officials said the land is meant for the army's rifle range, and illegal houses and shanties had mushroomed on it.

Saleem, 48, who hails from Shamli in western Uttar Pradesh, had set up a shanty on the land illegally.

"We have been living there for the past 15 years. I pleaded with officials to spare my shanty as my wife was expecting a child any day now. But no one listened. Our shanty was demolished on Monday, and we had nowhere to go. We kept lying under the sky in the open, and my 35-year-old wife gave birth to our third child on Tuesday night," Saleem said.

He said he has constructed a temporary tent of blankets and canvas sheets to protect the newborn and Shabnam.

"The officials told us to remove the rubble and take away the remaining items. Else, they will be seized and taken away in a day or two," Saleem said.