The AAP government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the demolition drive and death of the six-month girl though railways has said that the incident had “nothing to do with removal of encroachments”.
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“The post-mortem report has also come which states death due to shock on chest and face”, he added.
Since the demolition, the hutment dwellers are living in the open, at the site, under canvas tents. “Tears being shed by Rahul reflect political opportunism”, said BJP Delhi chief Satish Upadhyay. “We are suspending the local DM, SDMs”, he said. We will fight for you… “We will raise the issue in parliament”, he said, slamming the Centre and AAP government. In his usual diatribe against opposition, Rahul put the blame of child’s death on both Central and Delhi government. They went to another part of the slum to assemble other things.
“Those who have done this (demolition of shanties) are not humans, instead they are animals and bestial”, Kejriwal said.
After meeting Prabhu, Kejriwal said no slums would be demolished without rehabilitation of dwellers, especially those occupying Railways land. Notices were sent and encroachers were adviced to vacate the land but they did not respond.
Calling the hutment an encroachment, Prabhu said they had become an impediment for building a new passenger terminal and were also a safety hazard.
He called it an “atrocity on the poor”.
The chief minister said that he had spoken to federal Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, who was not “aware of this operation”.
The court also issued notice to the ministry, Delhi police, DUSIB and Delhi government directing them to file replies on the plea, which alleged that the demolition drive was done in “complete haste”.
“Delhi government should have arranged for the rehabilitation of the evicted ones through its Slum Board”. He later announced that there would be no demolitions in Delhi without rehabilitation. “They are in power in Delhi”, Mr Gandhi was quoted as saying, in response to AAP lawmakers protesting at Parliament.
Speaking to the media later, he accused the Delhi government and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre for the razing of the slum and asserted that the law had been clearly broken during the demolition. The counsel for railways had no reply. In the evening, senior railway officials met him to explain why the slum cluster was demolished but the “difference of opinion” persisted between the two sides. “What steps taken to help Shakur Basti residents?” the bench asked.
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The Railways had demolished some 500 hutments at Shakur Basti on Saturday, leaving hundreds homeless in the winter chill.
