URBANISATION-Eviction of the Weak


URBANISATION Eviction of the Weak MORE than two decades ago, speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 1958, a member stated that "houses worth as much as Rs 40,000 were demolished and people were sent at the dead of night with all their bags and baggage in a lorry to a jungle. This is what has happened and this is what is likely to happen." The words were prophetic; for in 1975 and 1976 large masses of people living in shanty towns inside the city were pulled out without notice and dumed in far off places where there was no electricity, no drinking water, no sanitary arrangements, no ration shops, no roads. This was done by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) under the colour of authority vested in them during Emergency.