Delhi slum-dwellers' rehabilitation within six months, court told

The city government Friday told the Delhi High Court that it will complete, within six months, the rehabilitation process of slum dwellers, who were evicted from where they had been living before May 1998.

Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) told Justice Sudhershan Kumar Misra that the cabinet has taken a decision to complete the identification of slum dwellers who will be eligible for rehabilitation by March 31, 2014 and thereafter within two months, all rehabilitation process will be completed.

The response of DUCIB came on a contempt petition filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, on behalf of evicted slum dwellers, against it for failing to rehabilitate over 250 families, who were evicted by the authorities.

During the hearing, advocate Ramesh Misra, appearing for the slum dwellers, contended that the Delhi government was "willfully" not implementing a February 2010 order of the high court to rehabilitate them even if they were encroaching on public land.

The state government is now taking a stand that only those who are party in the petition filed in the high court will be eligible for rehabilitation, Misra contended.

The contempt petition of slum dwellers asked the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the Delhi chief secretary, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi commissioner and chief executive officer of DUSIB.

On Feb 11, 2010, the high court had directed the government to rehabilitate the slum dwellers, who were evicted from their hutments as per the Master Plan-Delhi 2021, by giving an alternative site, within four months.

Providing relief to lakhs of slum dwellers in south and east Delhi whose clusters had been demolished, the division bench had said all the people living at a site before 1998 are entitled to relocation after demolition even if they are on "right of way".