DDA carrying out demolition drive in Wazirpur on Monday.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Monday razed nearly 200 tenements at Jailorwala Bagh in north-west Delhi’s Ashok Vihar amid heavy police and paramilitary deployment as part of an anti-encroachment drive.
A similar drive was also conducted in Wazirpur, where “the authorities razed illegal tenements” near railway tracks.
Monday’s demolition drives come days after similar exercises were carried out in south-east Delhi’s Bhoomiheen Camp, south Delhi’s Madrasi Camp, and west Delhi’s Patel Nagar.
The demolition drive in Ashok Vihar is likely to continue in neighbouring slum clusters on Tuesday, an official said, adding that structures built on government land are being razed.
The official added that the removal of temporary structures was part of a larger drive to reclaim government land and implement the Centre’s in-situ rehabilitation scheme aimed at redeveloping existing slums.
Many affected residents in Jailorwala Bagh claimed they had not been allotted houses and were “left stranded without shelter”.
‘Can’t afford rent’
“My husband earns ₹8,000 a month. We cannot spend ₹4,000 monthly on house rent. There is no accommodation nearby, and we can’t move far away because my husband works here and my children go to school nearby,” said Indradevi, a 50-year-old resident of Jailorwala Bagh.
Of the hundreds of families living in various jhuggis clusters such as Jailorwala Bagh and Wazirpur, 1,078 households have been allotted one-bedroom flats at Swabhiman Apartments in Ashok Vihar, while the claims of the remaining families have been rejected.
According to the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board rules, eligibility for rehabilitation requires a family member to have been included in the voter lists between 2012 and 2015 and to possess at least one of the 12 government-approved documents.
‘Notice served on June 6’
Many of the affected people, who work as daily wage labourers and vendors in the nearby Azadpur wholesale vegetable market, reported receiving demolition notices on June 6, which, they said, had left them with little time or resources to find a new place.
(With inputs from Trisha Sood and PTi)
Published – June 17, 2025 01:52 am IST