Disaster relief force demolishes slums on land marked for its Delhi headquarters
During the protests, residents of the area tried to stop the demolition team from entering their colony
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Friday morning conducted a three-hour-long drive, demolishing slums in Priyanka Gandhi camp in southwest Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area.
Residents of the area, however, staged a protest and tried to stop the demolition team from entering the colony.
Officials said that the land was allotted by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to NDRF in 2020 for the construction of its headquarters. Around 69 families from the area had approached the Delhi high court seeking a stay on demolition in the first week of May, which was quashed on May 30 by the court after the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) said that the area was not part of its 675 JJ clusters and was occupied illegally.
The court said at the time that residents of the cluster, which houses approximately 90 families, must be given time till June 15 to vacate the area and asked DUSIB to provide temporary shelter to them at its own cost.
On Friday, the demolition team arrived at the site at around 6am. The drive began about an hour later and ended by 10am, officials said. Some of the residents initially protested, with around 20 families forcibly shutting the gates of the colony to prevent entry of the heavy machinery.
However, the residents later cleared the area, and the demolition began. The Delhi Police and NDRF teams began with removing larger movable belongings that were kept along the main road.
“Most families had already removed their belongings and vacated voluntarily by morning. In the total area of 1.6 acres, 97 jhuggis were removed. Apart from the local police, five additional companies of Delhi Police were provided along with staff from the district magistrate office. There were about 200 NDRF staff in the drive,” said Narendra Singh Bundela, inspector general (IG), NDRF.
Officials said most of the debris was cleared from the spot by afternoon.
Senior DUSIB officials said that shelters for the families were kept ready, and NDRF provided free bus service for the transportation of the residents. However, none of the families from the area opted to move to the shelters.
The land vacated on Friday will be used for the construction of the new headquarters of National Disaster Relief Force, which is currently operating from a leased premises in Connaught Place.
During the May 30 court hearing, the counsel for NDRF claimed that construction of the headquarters was a matter of national safety and security. It also added that Delhi was in seismic zone 5 for earthquakes, making it important for NDRF to have their office in the national capital.
“It is a critical infrastructure for us, and the funds have also been allocated to us by the ministry of home affairs. The final building designs are being prepared now and construction will begin soon,” said NDRF IG Bundela.