: Slum Demolitions and the Everyday Construction of Urban Citizenship #IndiaNEWSAll #Law/Rights Last Friday, eight-night shelters for the homeless and a few jhuggis were demolished in Yamuna Pushta,

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Slum Demolitions and the Everyday Construction of Urban Citizenship #IndiaNEWSAll #Law /Rights
Last Friday, eight-night shelters for the homeless and a few jhuggis were demolished in Yamuna Pushta, near Nigambodh Ghat and Qudsia Ghat. These shelters, built by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and managed by NGOs, have allegedly been around for eight-ten years. They were set up with the aim of providing basic medical care and support to homeless people with injuries or illnesses, and are used by many who perform informal or contract work in nearby areas.
The demolitions were carried out by the DUSIB themselves and nearly 200 police personnel were involved in the demolition process. Many occupants claim that they were not given any prior notice or even a chance to take their belongings. Some people were supposedly taken away to another shelter but many are still on the banks of the river and have been rendered completely homeless.
On 9 March 2023, activists from the Centre for Holistic Development filed a petition in the Delhi High Court on behalf of the shelters on Yamuna against the demolition drive. The court scheduled a second hearing for 14 March, but the shelters were bulldozed that very night. Despite this, on the 14 March hearing, the Delhi High Court dismissed the petition and merely asked the government to provide prior notice while carrying out future demolitions and relocations.
Many activist groups claim that this particular round of Yamuna Pushta demolitions has to do with the upcoming G20 Summit in September 2023, which would bring a large number of foreign delegates to New Delhi. While officials deny any connection to the G20, this conclusion is more likely than not. While high-profile international events like sports competitions, pageants, music festivals, and diplomatic events bring excitement and bustle to the country’s middle and upper classes, these events are an existential threat to the city’s poorest. In welcoming important external guests and opening the country up to an international audience, governments across the Third World resort to razing slums, criminalising poverty, and driving the residents out of the city. Over 2,50,000 were left homeless in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. A report by the Housing and Land Rights Network lists at least 10 separate instances of demolitions in the name of the Commonwealth Games between 2004 to 2010.
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Officials, however, stated that the encroachers were being removed because the Yamuna floodplains are an eco-sensitive zone. L-G VK Saxena acknowledged that the encroachers are poor and in need of support, but he also referenced the NGT and Supreme Court orders to remove encroachments on the Yamuna floodplains, and argued that the support cannot come at the cost of the environment.

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