Vacate slums near Race Course, PM residence by March 6: L&DO

New Delhi: Centre has asked residents of three slum clusters adjacent to Delhi Race Club and PM residence to vacate them by March 6 and take possession of the flats allotted to them at DUSIB Colony at Savda Ghevra under the rehabilitation plan. All eligible residents will be rehabilitated properly, a top housing and urban affairs ministry said.The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DSUIB) colony at Savda Ghevra is located on the northwestern outskirts of Delhi, near Tikri border. The notices issued to residents by the land and development office (L&DO) of housing ministry on Thursday said that following a direction of the Delhi High Court, the govt has "confirmed" providing alternate houses to the residents at Savda Ghevra. Officials said 717 flats have been allotted to the residents of these coloniesVacating the three colonies will open up a huge tr-act of land in the high security zone for future development. The slum clusters had come up on the L&DO land, as per the notice.The L&DO, in the notices issued to each resident, said, "You are directed to take immediate possession of the allotted flat at Savda Ghevra and compulsorily vacate the possession of the current premises by March 6, 2026. Failure to vacate the current premises, legal procedures will be followed to carry out eviction."L&DO notices were issued barely days after Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal said that Centre is working on a plan for building proper houses for people living in nearly 700 slum clusters and that either redevelopment will be carried out at locations where these currently exist or providing them proper houses within 5-km of their current homes.In the notices, the ministry said that in Jan 2024, L&DO and DDA had carried out a joint survey for identifying the residents as per the DUSIB policy for rehabilitation of slum dwellers and the final list has been finalised. On the basis of this, the govt decided to provide alternate housing at Savda Ghevra.Notices for rehabilitation and eviction were earlier issued on October 29, 2025, informing residents about their allotments and advising them to vacate the existing premises to facilitate relocation. But the matter was challenged in the Delhi HC. The court, in its Nov 13 order, directed the ministry not to evict "without adhering to the procedural safeguards" and the matter has been listed for hearing on May 13.While some of the residents told TOI that they were accepting the fait accompli as shifting to pucca houses will put an end to the frequent uncertainties they have been facing for years, others are skeptical. "We believed govt's promise of ‘jahan jhuggie wahan makan' (in-situ redevelopment), but now it's turning out to be jahan jhuggi wahan maidan (slums paving way for open fields)," said a resident.