CM Kejriwal to meet railway minister Prabhu over demolition drive

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is to discuss the recent demolition drive in Shakur basti and the subsequent death of a baby at the site with railway minister Suresh Prabhu as he was not satisfied with the ministry officials’ response.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is to discuss the recent demolition drive in Shakur basti and the subsequent death of a baby at the site with railway minister Suresh Prabhu as he is not satisfied with the ministry officials’ response.

People shifted to a camp after more than 500 shanties were demolished during an anti-encroachment drive conducted by the Indian Railways, at Shakur Basti, in New Delhi. (Arvind Yadav/ HT Photo)

The CM announced his intention to meet Prabhu via Twitter on Monday.

“Railway officials failed to give satisfactory response as to why demolition drive was carried out when asked whether it was an emergency project,” sources said.

They added when Kejriwal asked why proper rehabilitation measure was not taken before demolition, Railway officials said they will inform the their Board and Ministry about it.

“CM was not happy with the Railway officials’ response and he would take up the matter with Railway Minister,” sources also said.

The Delhi government , meanwhile, ordered a magisterial probe into the demolition of 1200 slum units at Shakur Basti in West Delhi on Saturday and is planning to move court seeking FIR against those who ordered the action citing the Special Provision Act according to which no demolition can be carried out until government needs land urgently.

The railways, on its part, said the removal of “fresh encroachment” was necessary for expanding the infrastructure and that the action had been taken after three notices, the first one with the March 14, 2015 deadline.

A six-month-old baby died in one of the slum units, which the railways insisted had “nothing to do with removal of encroachments”, claiming that it occurred two hours before the demolition started at 12PM.

Police said prima facie the baby died due to suffocation after a heap of clothes fell on it when the parents were preparing to clear out of the jhuggi and hence no case was registered.

“In the meeting, Railway officials told the CM said that there is no rehabilitation scheme before demolition. The chief minister completely rejected the claims of the Railways,” said a Delhi Government official.

After meeting the evicted dwellers, Kejriwal said that those people had been living there since 1992-94, but in one moment, Railway demolished the shanties.

“Those who have done this (demolition of shanties) are not humans, instead they are animals and bestial,” Kejriwal said.