Delhi HC orders demolition of Madrasi Camp from June 1, asks agencies to ensure fair rehabilitation of residents

The Hindu

12-05-2025

The Delhi High Court has ordered the demolition of south-east Delhi's Madrasi Camp from June 1. It also directed the departments concerned to ensure proper rehabilitation of the eligible residents of the unauthorised colony located near the Barapullah drain.
'The rehabilitation of the Madrasi Camp dwellers is essential for the de-clogging of the Barapullah drain. None of the dwellers can claim any rights beyond the right of rehabilitation, as the land is public land, which is encroached upon,' the court said in its order dated May 9.
Several parties have opposed the demolition of the slum cluster, which is inhabited mostly by residents hailing from Tamil Nadu.
In September last year, the BJP, which was then in the Opposition, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was in power at the time, held protests after the Public Works Department issued eviction notices to Madrasi Camp residents.
The slum dwellers were issued fresh notices by the Centre-run Delhi Development Authority last month, following which AAP, now the Capital's principal Opposition party, attacked BJP's 'double engine' government for 'betraying' the camp dwellers. Two days later, on April 17, Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Karti P. Chidambaram wrote to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta urging her to stop the drive, saying it posed 'a grave threat to the residents' livelihood, education, and cultural roots, particularly for the children'. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) made similar remarks in a statement issued on May 7.
Madrasi Camp has a total of 370 shanties and families living in 189 of them have been found eligible for rehabilitation under the Delhi Slum and Jhuggi Jhopri Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015.
Those eligible for rehabilitation have been offered flats 40 km away in outer Delhi's Narela.