New Delhi: A political uproar unfolded in the capital on Sunday as bulldozers demolished significant portions of the Madrasi Camp slum cluster near Barapullah in South Delhi, displacing hundreds of working-class families.
The demolition, executed in accordance with a Delhi High Court order, has sparked intense backlash from leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Delhi administration of betrayal and insensitivity.
Atishi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, took to the social media platform X to voice her condemnation. “Before the elections, BJP leaders visited Madrasi Camp and encouraged residents to fill out the ‘Jahan jhuggi, wahin makaan’ forms. Yet, as soon as the BJP government took office, they bulldozed these slums. Only a handful of individuals received housing, and that was in Narela. Most residents are now left homeless. This is the reality of the BJP,” she stated.
Echoing her sentiments, Saurabh Bharadwaj, chief of AAP’s Delhi unit, criticized the timing of the demolition. “Just yesterday, the Chief Minister of Delhi assured that no slum would be demolished. Yet today, the Barapullah Madrasi Camp was destroyed by bulldozers, leaving thousands without homes. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin must reveal how the BJP treats the people of Tamil Nadu in the national capital,” he wrote on X.
AAP MLA Praveen Kumar also shared a video statement on social media, accusing the administration of engaging in “barbaric activities.” “Houses belonging to families who have lived there for 50 years were demolished. What did not occur during the Arvind Kejriwal government is now happening in Delhi under Rekha Gupta’s administration,” he asserted.
Approximately 370 families have called the Madrasi Camp home, a jhuggi cluster that has stood for nearly 60 years along the banks of the Barapullah drain near Nizamuddin Railway Station. Recently, residents received eviction notices, with authorities designating only 189 families as eligible for relocation to government flats in Narela.
A government notice dated May 30 announced that trucks would be available at Barapullah Bridge from May 31 to June 1 to facilitate the transportation of residents’ belongings.
In response to the situation, the Tamil Nadu government confirmed that the demolition was being carried out in accordance with a court directive and that all legal avenues had been exhausted. The government also stated that assistance would be provided to any residents from Tamil Nadu who wished to return to their home districts.
