E-Paper
Families save keepsakes from houses in ruins
As many as 1,679 residents (official figure) have been assigned houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana at Vasant Kunj on the city’s IIM Road so far.
Even without electricity, many residents of Akbar Nagar are yet to completely abandon their ruined houses.
When a demolition drive was taken up on Monday, some were seen tearing down their steel gates in their last-ditch effort to salvage whatever they could from the debris of what was once their home.
As many as 1,679 residents (official figure) have been assigned houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana at Vasant Kunj on the city’s IIM Road so far.
“We are taking with us steel and iron framework. For this, we have hired people with our own money. Even my five-year-old is helping me,” said Naushad, a local.
Another resident Mohammed Ahmed was seen shifting his last few belongings to his new house at Vasant Kunj. “My mother is suffering from paralysis. My father is 80 years old. We’ve been allotted a house on the second floor of the building [in Vasant Kunj],” he said.
“Roads here were laid just six months ago. If we are illegal residents, then they should not have laid roads and put up lights for us. All our identity cards show our address as Akbar Nagar,” he lamented.
