From 2-year stay to 12-year wait: Delhi’s Kathputli Colony families await homes

NEW DELHI: Thousands of families are still waiting at Anand Parbat, 12 years after being moved out of Kathputli Colony with the promise they would be given permanent homes.What was meant to be a temporary stay of two years at Anand Parbat has stretched into more than a decade, with the families now living in a rapidly deteriorating transit camp and their dream of owning a home once again fading.Delhi Development Authority (DDA) shifted the families to Anand Parbat in 2014 as part of its first in-situ rehabilitation project under the ‘Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makan’ initiative. The project was planned on a public-private partnership (PPP) model through a private developer and was expected to be completed within two years.These people, many of whom traditionally worked as puppeteers, magicians, kalandars and acrobats and largely belonged to the Bhat community of Rajasthan, have since spent years waiting for rehabilitation.The same situation continues even as Master Plan of Delhi 2047 explicitly prioritises in-situ slum rehabilitation projects, offering increased FAR for PPP projects.The history of Kathputli Colony goes back to 1959, when tribal communities from villages in Rajasthan began settling on vacant land near what is now Shadipur depot. Later, street performers from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra joined them. Since their professions required frequent travel and access to public transport, they began seeking permanent housing in the late 1960s.DDA announced an in-situ rehabilitation project for them in 2009. A transit camp was developed by the private developer in 2013 to accommodate around 2,800 families at Anand Parbat while permanent houses for them were to be constructed at Kathputli Colony.Raheja Developers Ltd began work, but a portion of the land was still encroached upon. “Full-fledged work began only in 2021 after a court gave its decision in favour of DDA. The agreement was for developing a transit camp, but there was no mention of its maintenance. In 2022, DDA promised to pay maintenance charges, but nothing happened,” said an office-bearer with the developer.Raheja didn’t provide its official response despite repeated attempts by TOI.Meanwhile, the transit camp has deteriorated. Residents complain of leaking roofs, damaged flooring, leaking water pipes and poorly maintained toilets. They say the temporary structures, designed to last only two years, were never meant to become their homes for over a decade.Patasi, president of the RWA of the transit camp and one of its first occupants, said several politicians and officials visited the residents and the construction site over the years, but the promised flats remained elusive.“Look at the condition we are living in. The roofs leak so badly that we have to use utensils and buckets to collect the water. Recently, a boy fractured his shoulder after a portion of a roof collapsed. The condition of the toilets is deplorable. Water pipes are leaking and the concrete flooring is damaged,” she said.“Residents interacted with former MoHUA minister Hardeep Puri earlier and Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar around six months ago, and were assured each time that the flats will be transferred soon.”While DDA vice-chairman N Saravana Kumar claimed that sanitation was fine at the transit camp, it recently invited tender of approx Rs 5.5 crore for sanitation and sweeping services.For Pappu, who lives in a 10x10-foot transit unit with a family of 16, including his three sons, their wives and grandchildren, the prolonged wait has become a symbol of their poverty. “If we had money, why would we live in such circumstances? Our poverty has been mocked by everyone. We have had to divide the small space with curtains,” he said.Vinod Bhat, another resident, questioned why govt and elected representatives remained silent while the developer continued to maintain the transit camp.Another office-bearer at the developer’s office in the transit camp said, “The maintenance and services provided by the developer include cleaning around 900 toilets, operating a 50,000-litre RO system, garbage collection, road sweeping, electrical and plumbing repairs, maintenance of the transit units and sewage treatment plant. DDA only provides the water supply.” The maintenance bill, she claimed, has now run into crores of rupees.Sources said DDA held a meeting with the developer in mid-July. “It was decided that the authority would pay within 15 days the developer’s maintenance charges for the complex for 12 years. The developer will then complete the pending work and hand over the complex to DDA within three months,” the sources said.Residents said a DDA engineer met them in July and assured them that outstanding issues had been resolved and the project would move ahead.DDA, however, has a different take. Its vice-chairman said the developer had been served several notices to complete the project but didn’t respond. “We are waiting for some time and, if we do not get a satisfactory response, we will be forced to take strict action,” he said.The officials didn’t deny the possibility of exercising the option of engaging another developer to finish the project. Till then, the wait for the hapless thousands goes on.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Delhi | Silver Rate in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi | Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Petrol Price in Delhi | Diesel Price in Delhi | CNG Price in Delhi | LPG Price in DelhiStay updated with the latest Delhi news. 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