‘This is our janmabhoomi’: Yamuna Bazar residents refuse to leave after eviction notice

New Delhi: Clutching eviction notices in their hands, anxious residents of Yamuna Bazar colony near Nigam Bodh Ghat said on Thursday that they were being asked to leave behind not just houses, but entire lives built along the river.

“We have lived here for three generations. Yamuna gives us everything. How can we leave in 15 days?” they said, with most of them refusing to shift from the only place in Delhi they have called home.

The area comprising 32 ghats falls under the ‘O-Zone category’, where all construction activities and encroachment are prohibited, Delhi govt said, adding that notices were issued to the families to vacate the area within 15 days. Around 310 residential structures housing nearly 1,100 people came up over time on the stretch through encroachment, a senior govt official said.

The area belongs to Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which was directed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) to act against such encroachments on Yamuna floodplains. DDA carried out several drives in recent years and reclaimed large portions of land used for residential and commercial purposes.

However, most of the locals who survive on informal work — at temples, roadside barber shops and food carts — and as daily wagers said they had nowhere else to go. “This is our janmabhoomi. If we are removed from here, we do not know how we will survive,” they said. Mothers worried about their children’s future, elderly residents recalled generations raised beside the river and daily wagers wondered what work they will take up next.

The eviction notices were issued under Section 34 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, as this zone is one of the first along the Yamuna to be submerged during floods every year, posing a threat to human life, livestock and property. Repeated flooding has forced the revenue department to undertake temporary evacuation and rehabilitation measures, putting pressure on public resources and requiring extensive emergency response efforts, govt said. The residents have been warned that failure to vacate the area within 15 days could lead to demolition of their properties and their eviction without further notice.

However, several residents said they would not obey the notices “whatever happens”. A 60-year-old woman, whose son works at a sari shop in Chandni Chowk, said, “We live next to Maa Yamuna and amid temples. This area is flooded every year, but we know how to manage. We repair our homes on our own after the water recedes.”

Others said that flooding has never forced them to abandon the area permanently. “Water levels are high for a month or so and then life returns to normal. We are not dying because of floods. But if we are forced to move, we do not know what we will do next,” a resident said on condition of anonymity. Many questioned why govt was “destroying” their homes instead of upgrading the settlement or offering them rehabilitation nearby.

A 40-year-old woman, living with over 30 family members, including her husband’s brothers, their wives and children, said surviving in Delhi on a monthly earning of Rs 15,000 to Rs 18,000 is already difficult. “On top of that, how will we pay rent, school fees, buy medicines and clothes and food if we are removed from here? If govt wants us to leave, they should first arrange an alternative place for us,” she said.

Another woman, who moved from Mathura after marriage 15 years ago and now lives with her husband, a roadside barber, and four children, said eviction would destroy their lives. “My child’s school admission is due. Where will we take the children next? Who will give us a house or job?” she asked.

Several others invoked Delhi govt’s earlier slogan “Jahan jhuggi, wahi makan”, demanding permanent housing instead of eviction. “If govt asks us to revamp our houses, we will do it ourselves. But they cannot destroy them,” another local said.

A Class X student of Rajkiya Uchchya Madhyamik Kanya Vidyalaya, who aspires to be an air hostess, said her parents have been under immense stress since receiving the eviction notice, worrying constantly about where the family will go if their house is demolished. This uncertainty could ruin her academic year, she fears.
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