Nangla's Delhi

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On the 5^th of April the High Court had ordered that the undemolished houses in Nangla Maachi be "removed" without waiting for resettlement of the affected persons.

During the last month the teachers and staff of the Ankur Society for Alternatives in Education and Cybermohalla practitioners have been working tirelessly to prevent the destruction of the homes that remain in Nangla. They have been collecting and verifying documentation, conducting interviews and have produced a substantial narrative that testifies to the fact that Nangla Maachi has been settled for 25 years, and that the inhabitants of Nangla Maachi came to Delhi to look for work. Apart from government documentation such as decades old Ration Cards, Below Poverty Line Certificates and Voter ID cards, a clear picture also emerges that Nangla was literally created by these people on top of a toxic fly ash swamp on the banks of the Yamuna decades ago.

This narrative has been critical in the framing of a writ petition before the Supreme Court which, after laying out the background and context of the inhabitants of Nangla seeks to stop the impending demolitions.

The petition draws on established law flowing from the Constitution, the decisions of the Supreme Court, international laws and covenants, natural justice and, critically, the established scheme of the Delhi State Government on the relocation of settlements such as Nangla that was framed with the approval of the Central Government.

This scheme states that those who have established their homes before 31.01.1990 are entitled to an 18 sq.m. plot of land while those who have established their homes between 01.02.1990 and 31.12.1998 are entitled to a plot of 12.5 sq.m.

The scheme states that the relocation would be partially financed by the relocatees who will pay a sum of Rs. 7,000/- before being allotted a site.

The policy also states that the emphasis will not be on large scale relocations and that relocations will not take place without a specific use being envisaged for the site to be cleared. In my opinion, this is very important, as there is no clear statement from anyone setting out the purpose for which the land that Nangla stands on now will be used.

The scheme states that the major emphasis will be on in-situ upgradation of the settlement, through widening of roads and alignment of plots and that the settlements would come under the Environmental Improvement in Urban Areas Scheme which looks at the provision of basic amenities and sanitation.

This policy has been affirmed by the Supreme Court which has further stated that the land plots should be situated near adequate transport and other resources.

The petition argues that the demolition of Nangla has taken place in complete contravention of these established practices and laws. In my opinion, this is an example of the Court exercising the administrative and executive functions that are the duty and right of the state, part of a larger process whereby the judiciary is "forced" to "step in" to "stem the rot".

The petition claims that almost all residents of Nangla are fully covered by the extant scheme of the State government and that the order of removal ignores this fact.

In an order granting interim relief to the petitioners, the Supreme Court has stayed the demolitions until the 9^th of May, 2006.

So a thin ray of hope for the Nangla Maachi residents but to sound a note of caution, this is a very pivotal arena which we have now entered. An adverse decision by this court could affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Much hangs in the balance.