Watch: 'People Whose Houses Were Demolished for G20 Are Worst Victims of Delhi Floods'

Mohammed is a resident of Bela Estate, Delhi. His house was among the thousand other houses that were demolished by the Indian authorities under the pretext of beatification for the G20 summit. The problems of the already homeless people of Bela estate increased after the recent flooding of the river Yamuna in the national capital.

Bela Estate is a large JJ cluster on the western bank of river Yamuna. To understand the complete picture, we need to go back in time. The river Yamuna was a key player in the development of Delhi as a major city. Its floodplains helped with agriculture and people started settling in the areas adjoining it.

In the 1930s, the land was leased for collective cropping and grazing by the British controlled Delhi Improvement Trust – a precursor to the Delhi Development Authority – to the farmers of the area. After the DDA was constituted, it claimed ownership of the land.

The New Delhi Development Plan declares the flood plain area as ecologically sensitive. A plan to build a biodiversity park is in place, but flyovers and other concrete constructions have damaged the sensitive ecology of the area.

As per the DUSIB Act, the government can only demolish already existing unauthorised jhuggi jhopadis only after providing rehabilitation for the people staying there. But in case of Bela estate, no rehabilitation was done, which left people who had already been displaced as part of G20 beautification drives, with no homes during the floods.

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