Delhi slums razed, employers ask domestic help: 'Why didn't you show up?'

Residents of Madrasi Camp in Delhi's Jangpura were suddenly displaced as authorities demolished the 60-yr-old settlement. Meanwhile, their employers kept calling, asking why they missed work that day

 

  A demolition drive was carried out on Sunday at Madrasi Camp, a six-decade-old settlement in South Delhi’s Jangpura, as part of the Delhi High Court’s directive under the Barapullah Drain Decongestion Project. The civic initiative seeks to mitigate flooding and waterlogging in South and Central Delhi during the monsoon. The Jhuggi cluster housed more than 400 working-class families. Several dwellers of the unauthorised colony, inhabited mostly by people from Tamil Nadu, had opposed the demolition.

 

Over 150 families left without rehabilitation

 

The demolition razed 370 homes. While 215 families were allotted rehabilitation flats in Narela’s Pocket 4 and 5—over 35 kilometres away on Delhi’s northern edge—155 families were declared ineligible for resettlement.

 

‘Why didn’t you come to work?’

 

Among those affected is 38-year-old Pushpa, a domestic worker who lived in Madrasi Camp. As the razing began, she scrambled to save her belongings while fielding repeated calls from her employer in Jangpura asking, “Why didn’t you come to work?”

 

Pushpa told India Today that she avoided taking any leave for a month and a half, anticipating trouble due to the ongoing court case and wanting to save her leave for later. Despite this, she continued receiving calls from the households she worked for.

 

Encroachment on Barapullah drain

 

The Barapullah drain, a crucial stormwater channel stretching from Lajpat Nagar to Sarai Kale Khan and into the Yamuna, has long suffered from reduced flow due to encroachment. The Delhi High Court had noted that Madrasi Camp was an “unauthorised construction/ encroachment” that had led to the obstruction and blockage of the Barapullah drain, “causing significant waterlogging in the surrounding areas, especially during the monsoon”.

 

People’s livelihoods in jeopardy

 

Relocation to Narela has created serious concern for residents, especially women who rely on domestic work in South Delhi. The move threatens their primary means of income. Around 200 children from the camp attend a Tamil government-aided school near Barapullah, and their school admissions are now uncertain.

 

Following demolition notices, residents had approached the Delhi High Court seeking relief. On May 9, all the pleas filed by the residents were disposed of by the Delhi High Court, which ordered the commencement of demolition at Madrasi Camp from June 1.

 

Tamil Nadu govt extends support

 

The Tamil Nadu government announced that it would assist affected residents wishing to return to their home districts if they chose to do so. State officials promised support through local district Collectors, including help with resettlement and livelihoods. The Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi has been tasked with outreach.