AAP, BJP spar over slum rehabilitation in Delhi

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday alleged that the Centre and its agencies have carried out a series of demolition drives at slum, or JJ, clusters in Delhi over the last year, and that no rehabilitation has been carried out in these cases.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back, accusing the AAP government in Delhi of not doing anything for the resettlement of slum dwellers, and of engaging in political rhetoric.
Speaking at a press conference, Delhi cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said several demolition drives have occurred over the past year, including three recently in Jasola, Karkardooma, and Adarsh Nagar. “Over the last year, people are settling under flyovers and public spaces. These are the people whose houses are being demolished. I appeal to BJP MPs to stop these demolitions,” he said.
Bharadwaj said that no action has been taken against the officers who were responsible for these drives. He added that the courts have pulled up the agencies in many cases. “There was a demolition drive in Tughlaqabad and more than 1000 homes were destroyed without any rehabilitation. Mehrauli colony, Dhaula Kuan, Pragati Maidan, Sunder Nursery JJ cluster and so many other places which were listed clusters of DUSIB have seen demolition. Such listed clusters can’t be damaged without rehabilitation,” he said.
In response, the BJP said that the Delhi government was engaging in political rhetoric, rather than arranging relief work.
“Bhardwaj mentioned that in some places in Delhi, slums have been demolished either on the orders of some court or due to the requirements of development by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Public Works Department, and DDA. The minister raised unfortunate political rhetoric instead of arranging relief work. The responsibility of resettlement work in Delhi lies with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) of the Delhi government. It would be better if Bharadwaj explains what DUSIB has done for the resettlement of slum dwellers in the last 10 years,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said.
Kapoor said that nearly 50,000 resettlement scheme flats in various areas of Delhi have been unallocated for the past 12 years. “Many of these flats have deteriorated due to lack of maintenance, but the Kejriwal government has not allocated a single flat to anyone” he said.