'Don't know when bulldozer will come and demolish our house': Okhla village residents spend sleepless nights after receiving eviction notice

On Thursday, around 500 families of a village in Delhi's Okhla, near the Uttar Pradesh border, woke up to find two things — a red cross painted on the walls of their homes and a notice saying their houses were illegal and asking them to vacate in 15 days.

- GNS News Agency

The notice issued in Hindi read, “This is to inform the general public that in Village Okhla, at Khasra Number 277 (Khizar Baba Colony, Muradi Road), Delhi, land belonging to the Irrigation Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh has been illegally encroached upon, and permanent houses and shops etc have been constructed. Remove these illegally constructed houses and shops within 15 days. Otherwise, in the event of any damage/harm, you will be solely responsible.”It was signed by the Ziledar Pratham, Head, Works Section, Agra Canal, Okhla.

Mohammad Danish, 40, an employee with a retail outlet, who has been staying in the area for almost 30 years, was outraged. “Remove the house in 15 days, they have told us. Where will we go?”He lives in a 10x10 room, on the ground floor of the three-storey building with his wife Shahnaz and two children, Tamanna, 10, and Sikander, 2.