'We've lived here for generations': Batla House residents worried as demolition looms

NEW DELHI: Inside the maze of congested bylanes of southeast Delhi's Batla House, families pack up their possessions as they prepare to leave the place they called home for decades now.
'We've lived here for generations. Now, they just paste a notice and expect us to disappear,' said 65-year-old Abdul Rashid, who has been living in the locality since 1980.
The notice in question was issued by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on May 26, informing residents that Khasra number 279, on Muradi Road, belongs to authority, making all structures on the land unauthorised.
Residents were given 15 days' notice to vacate the land with a demolition drive set to begin on June 11. A cloud of apprehension looms as hundreds of families in the area are living under threat of eviction.
'Most people who lived here on rent have already moved away. Among the homeowners, those who have the means have also shifted. But the rest of us don't have any other option. If the authorities actually do carry out the demolitions, we will be in ruin,' Rashid laments.
The DDA notice excludes houses under the PM-UDAY scheme meant to regularise Delhi's unauthorised colonies, but many claim they were unfairly left out despite submitting the necessary paperwork.
Faizan Quereshi, another local, shows electricity bills and a property tax receipt dating back to 1992.
'This is not an unauthorised settlement. It was regularised decades ago. We have documents, addresses, connections, all legal.'
Residents are left to endure an uncertain future.
'My children have exams. My wife is unwell. We can't sleep at night with the notice hanging around our necks,' Parveen Akhtar, a resident of Khizar Baba Colony. said. 'We don't know if tomorrow the bulldozers will come.'

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