URGENT ACTION APPEAL:

Case IND-FE 300806



Threat of Demolition of 4,500 homes, and the Forced Eviction of more than 25,000 people in Bhagirath Nagar Village, Bhatti Mines, India

The Coordination Office of the Housing and Land Rights Network of Habitat International Coalition (HIC-HLRN) and its regional South Asia office in Delhi request your URGENT intervention in the following situation in INDIA.

Brief description of the situation

More than 4,500 families in Bhagirath Nagar (also known as Sanjay Colony), Bhatti Mines face the imminent threat of demolition and forced eviction.

Based on a Supreme Court order of 9 April 2006, the Delhi government after submitting false evidence in the Court obtained an order to demolish Bhagirath Nagar on the grounds that it encroached on the Ridge. Spread out over 145 acres, Bhagirath Nagar was created for refugees from Pakistan. It is now a full-fledged village, which enjoyed State support until 1990. In April 1991, a notification of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, declared the area as a Wildlife Sanctuary under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, thus calling for the final closure of Bhatti Mines. Since then, State support for infrastructure development of the area was suspended.

Residents of Bhagirath Nagar have pointed to material evidence of a legally developed settlement, and to the fact that its residents were formerly recognised as bona fide villagers: in 1980–81, they received ration cards; in 1983, they had their representatives elected as members of the Bhatti village panchayat; and in 1987, they received "pattas" (titles) to 120 square yard (110 metre2) housing plots on gram sabha land under the 20–point programme.

In 1984, however, Bhagirath Nagar was reclassified from a village to a slum. Residents challenged this decision as arbitrary and the declaration of the area as a sanctuary, in 1991, as being baseless and dubious. The village currently houses over 25,000 people and includes two schools (one of which is considered to produce the best results in South Delhi), an ayurvedic hospital, a government veterinary centre, a community hall, a police post, an asphalted road, and a regular bus service. While Bhatti Mines is being targeted for "encroaching" on the Ridge and for lying within the newly declared Asola Sanctuary, farmhouses and religious organisations continue to occupy large tracts of land in the area and face no accusations of encroachment or threats of demolition.

To protest the illegal, unjust and inhumane decision to destroy their village, residents of Bhatti Mines launched a relay hunger strike from 27 June 2006. They also organized a public hearing on 23 July 2006. Despite this, they face the imminent threat of demolition.

On 20 April 2006, MCD officials demolished houses of 1,500 families, (where one person died of heart attack on seeing his house being demolished) in Indira Nagar and Balbir Nagar in Bhatti Mines. The majority of families who lost their homes still have not received alternative housing or land, and none of them have been compensated for the loss of belongings and homes.

While the lives and livelihoods of over 25,000 people are at risk, the Supreme Court and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi continue to endorse the annihilation of a rich historical and cultural heritage.

Background

More than 20,000 people who came as refugees during the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 officially settled in 1976 in village Bhagirath Nagar in Bhatti Mines, a huge complex of quarries that for 25 years (1965–90) yielded red sand, silica and stone for Delhi's construction industry.

. An overwhelming majority of original settlers in Bhagirath Nagar are members of the Od tribe The Ods are a large ethnic group spread over vast regions with important concentrations in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. Hereditary diggers and earth masons by trade, the Ods have been nomads for centuries, and were known in the whole subcontinent as indigenous civil engineers constructors of ponds, canals and embankments. Post-1947, large sections of the tribe inhabiting Sindh and Western Punjab became separated between India and Pakistan; among those who chose the India side of the border, were the pioneer settlers of the labour village in Bhatti Mines.

In June 1990, the Union Ministry of Labour closed Bhatti Mines for"rectification." The lock-out was ordered as the death of seven labourers in a pit-side collapse on 31 May 1990 revealed the violation of safety norms by the DSMDC management, in collusion with a mafia of private contractors. The approximately 4,000 quarry workers were summarily laid off without any compensation and, in April 1991, the closure of Bhatti Mines turned final through a notification of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, declaring the area as a wildlife sanctuary under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Over the years, Bhagirath Nagar has developed into a large village. It houses a primary school built in 1977 with 2,500 students now; a government senior secondary school constructed in 1985 that now houses 1,000 students; an ayurvedic hospital constructed in 1980, and a Primary Health Centre established in 2001. Despite all this, in 1984, the Delhi Government renotified Bhagirath Nagar from a village to a "J.J. Slum," and people's permanent ration cards were changed to J.J. Slum cards without any legal justification or explanation.

Under the impending prospect of "slum relocation," no new ration cards have been issued after 2001 to Bhagirath Nagar residents, even as sons and daughters of old-time settlers grew up, got married and raised their own families.

The original 1996 directives of the Supreme Court envisaged a separately funded, permanent resettlement project in nearby Jaunapur. In contravention of this, a Supreme Court directive, dated 7 February 2006, based on an arbitrary affidavit submitted by the Chief Secretary of Delhi, says that residents of Bhagirath Nagar are to be removed to Savda Ghevra, which is still completely undeveloped with no basic civic amenities in place. It has no proper roads and is currently flooded with rain water. The people who have been relocated there from recent evictions in Yamuna Pushta have not been allowed to construct houses. (See HLRN Urgent Action IND-FE 290404.) Instead, they are forced to live under flimsy bamboo shelters that provide no protection from the sun or rain. Apart from being uninhabitable, Savda Ghevra is located around 50 kilometres away from Bhatti Mines. Any move to relocate people there will thus severely impact and threaten their livelihoods.

When inhabitants sought information from the slum wing through the Right to Information Act as to why were people not being resettled in Jaunapur or Dera Mandi, they received the reply that land was not available there.

There are 4,500 families in Bhagirath Nagar but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's MCD's slum wing claims there are only 3,100 families residing there, and only half of them are considered eligible for alternative plots. This would mean that in the event of relocation, many families will be left out.

On 28 June 2006, the vacation bench of the Supreme Court rejected the villagers' plea for a stay of the renewed eviction orders of 7 February and 5 May 2006, and reiterated instructions to the government of Delhi to act quickly on Bhatti Mines. When residents learned that the Supreme Court order of 9 April 1996, had labelled them "encroachers" and called for the relocation of their village, they opposed this action and asked the Chief Secretary of Delhi government for the real facts behind relocation, but till today have been kept in the dark.

Of serious concern is the fact that there is no comment on the role played by the Ridge Management Board since 1996 in obtaining and flaunting the Supreme Court order to evacuate the three labour villages as "jhuggi (slum) clusters" encroaching the Southern Ridge. Sanjay Colony has subsisted for the last 16 years as a registered J.J. cluster inside the notified sanctuary, and nothing was ever done to challenge this legal position. During the same period, several hundred farmhouses (private estates) have spread over the whole expanse of the Southern Ridge, but are not being challenged; neither do they face any threat of demolition.

The residents of Bhagirath Nagar have for years been involved in planting trees and greening the area. Recently, on 12 August 2006, under the plantation mission of Dera Sachcha Sauda (Sirasa)'s Green S Welfare Force, they planted more than 5,000 saplings.

Indira Nagar and Balbir Nagar in the Bhatti Mines area were demolished on 20 April 2006. While there were 1,300 families in the two settlements, the slum wing of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), claims that there were only 1,112 families. Of them, only 520 families were relocated in Bawana, while 30 families were sent to Holambi Kalan. The remaining families still have not received any compensation or resettlement options and have had to fend for themselves.

National and International Human Rights Law Violations

The threatened demolition in Bhagirath Nagar, Bhatti Mines, would constitute a blatant violation of the human right to adequate housing and land. These forced evictions, without adequate rehabilitation, would violate the affected people's fundamental right to life and livelihood as enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Reaffirming the principle of indivisibility of all human rights, the fundamental right to life encompasses the right to live with human dignity. Furthermore, Article 14 of the Constitution of India guarantees equal protection under law, which is being threatened.

The demolition would be in clear contradiction of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of May 2004, which specifically states: "Forced eviction and demolition of slums will be stopped and, while undertaking urban renewal, care will be taken to see that the urban and semi-urban poor are provided housing near their place of occupation."

Besides contradicting the Common Minimum Programme, the actions taken against the people of Balbir Nagar and Indira Nagar and those threatened to be taken against the residents of Bhagirath Nagar constitute a violation of their basic human rights to life, security, health, work, food, education and adequate housing; i.e., the right of all women, men and children to gain and sustain a secure place to live in peace and dignity. The authorities especially violate people's entitlements to security of tenure and freedom from forced evictions; access to, and benefit from public goods and services; information, capacity and capacity-building; participation and self-expression; rights to resettlement and adequate compensation for violations and losses; and physical security and privacy. All are elements of the human right to adequate housing as recognized in international law.

The demolition and forced eviction would especially impact the rights of women and children. Children's right to education would be most severely threatened, since the village has two well established schools that are missing in the resettlement site.

By these eviction threats, the Indian authorities, including the local authorities, breach their treaty obligations under, inter alia, Articles 2, 11, 12, 13 and 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which India acceded in 1979. The State has been derelict in its obligations as elaborated in the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comments No. 4 on the right to adequate housing and No. 7 on forced evictions. The State of India also would contravene its obligations under Articles 16, 27 and 39 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which it acceded on 11 December 1992, and Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which it ratified on 9 July 1993. The evictions would also constitute a gross violation of the new Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Action Requested:

Please write to the authorities in India, urging them to respect their obligations under national and international law to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human right to adequate housing by: Please send your communications to the following responsible parties:

Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Delhi
A.K. Nigam
Room No. 25
Town Hall
Delhi 110 006
Tel: +91 (0)11 2396–1012/ 2396–7315
E-mail: cmrmcd@bol.net.in

Additional Commissioner, Slum and J.J.
Mr. A.B. Shukla
Punarwas Bhawan
IP Estate
New Delhi
Tel: +91 (0)11 2337–9983/ 2337–0571
Fax: +91 (0)11 2337– 0965

Director (P& M), Municipal Corporation of Delhi
Room Town Hall
Delhi 110 006
Tel: +91 (0)11 2398–2645
Fax: +91-11-2396-5016

Minister of State for Urban Development
Ajay Maken
10, Pandit Pant Marg
New Delhi 110 001
Fax: +91 (0)11 2332–1114

Chief Minister of Delhi
Sheila Dixit
3 Motilal Nehru Place,
New Delhi 110 011
E-mail: cmdelhi@ren02.nic.in
Fax: +91 (0)11 2339–2111

Prime Minister of India
Shri Manmohan Singh
7, Race Course Road
New Delhi 110 001
Fax: +91 (0)11 2301–6857 / 9545 (PM office)
Tel: +91 (0)11 2301–8668 / 2312 / 8939 (office);
+91 (0)11 2301–6996 (joint secretary); +91 (0)11 2301–8939 (personal secretary)
Email: manmohan@sansad.nic.in and pmosb@pmo.nic.in

President of India
Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam Azad
Rashtrapati Bhawan
New Delhi 110001
Fax: +91 (0)11 2301–7290/ 1689; +91 (0)11 2301–7824
Tel: +91 (0)11 2301–3172,
Email: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in

President of Congress Party
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
10, Janpath
New Delhi 110 001
Fax: +91 (0)11 2301–8651
Tel: +91 (0)11 2301–9080 / 2379–2263
Email: soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in

Minister for Urban Development
Mr. Jaipal Reddy
Nirman Bhawan
New Delhi 110001
Fax: +91 (0)11 2306–2089
Tel: +91 (0)11 2306–1162

Please see the attached sample letter that you may use. Kindly inform HIC-HLRN at: urgentactions@hlrn.org and schaudhry@hic-sarp.org of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Madam/ Sir:

Habitat International Coalition-Housing and Land Rights Network (HIC-HLRN) has informed us that more than 4,500 families in Sanjay Colony (Bhagirath Nagar), Bhatti Mines face the imminent threat of demolition and forced eviction.

Spread out over 145 acres, Bhagirath Nagar was created for refugees from Pakistan by late Sanjay Gandhi in 1976 and is therefore also called Sanjay Colony though it is now a full-fledged village. In April 1991, a notification of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, declared the area as a Wildlife Sanctuary under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, thus calling for the final closure of Bhatti Mines. Based on a Supreme Court order of 9 April 2006, the Delhi government after submitting false evidence in the Court obtained an order to demolish Bhagirath Nagar on the grounds that it encroached on the Ridge.

Residents of Bhagirath Nagar have pointed to material evidence of a legally developed settlement, and to the fact that its residents were formerly recognised as bona fide villagers: in 1980-81 they received ration cards, in 1983 they had their representatives elected as members of the Bhatti village panchayat, and in 1987 received "pattas" (titles) to 120-square yard housing plots in gram sabha land under the 20-point programme.

In 1984, however, Bhagirath Nagar was renotified from a village to a J.J. Slum. Residents challenge this decision as arbitrary and the declaration of the area as a Sanctuary in 1991 as being baseless and dubious. The village currently houses over 25,000 people and includes two schools, an ayurvedic hospital, government veterinary centre, a community hall, police post, an asphalted road, and a regular bus service. We have heard that while Bhatti Mines is being targeted for "encroaching" on the Ridge, farmhouses and religious organisations continue to occupy large tracts of land in the area and face no demolition threat.

To protest the illegal, unjust and inhuman decision to destroy their village, residents of Bhatti mines launched a relay hunger strike from 27 June 2006. The fast is still on. Despite this, they face the threat of demolition.

We are shocked to learn that on April 20, 2006, MCD officials demolished both Indira Nagar and Balbir Nagar in Bhatti Mines. The majority of families who lost their homes have still not received alternative housing or land, and none of them have been compensated for the loss of their belongings and homes.

While the lives and livelihoods of over 25,000 people are at risk, the Supreme Court and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi continue to endorse the annihilation of a rich historical and cultural heritage.

National and International Human Rights Law Violations

The threatened demolition in Bhagirath Nagar, Bhatti Mines would constitute a blatant violation of the human right to adequate housing and land. These forced evictions without adequate rehabilitation would violate the affected people's fundamental right to life and livelihood as enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Reaffirming the principle of indivisibility of all human rights, the fundamental right to life encompasses the right to live with human dignity. Furthermore, Article 14 of the Constitution of India guarantees equal protection under law, which is being threatened.

The demolition would be in clear contradiction of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of May 2004, which specifically states: "Forced eviction and demolition of slums will be stopped and, while undertaking urban renewal, care will be taken to see that the urban and semi-urban poor are provided housing near their place of occupation."

Besides contradicting the Common Minimum Programme, the actions taken against the people of Balbir Nagar and Indira Nagar and threatened to be taken against the residents of Bhagirath Nagar constitute a violation of their basic human rights to life, security, health, work, and adequate housing; i.e., the right of all women, men and children to gain and sustain a secure place to live in peace and dignity. The authorities especially violate people's entitlements to security of tenure and freedom from forced evictions; access to, and benefit from public goods and services; information, capacity and capacity building; participation and self-expression; rights to resettlement and adequate compensation for violations and losses; and physical security and privacy. All are elements of the human right to adequate housing as recognized in international law.

The demolition and forced eviction would especially impact the rights of women and children. Children's right to education would be most severely threatened since the village has two well established schools.

By these evictions, the Indian authorities, including the local authorities, breach their treaty obligations under, inter alia, Articles 2, 11, 12, 13 and 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which India acceded in 1979. The State has been derelict in its obligations as elaborated in the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comments No. 4 on the right to adequate housing and No. 7 on forced evictions. The State of India would also contravene its obligations under Articles 16, 27 and 39 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to which it acceded on 11 December 1992, and Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which it ratified on 9 July 1993. The evictions also constitute a gross violation of the new Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

We request you to use the powers vested in your office to uphold the human rights of the residents of Bhagirath Nagar, Bhatti Mines by immediately undertaking the following actions: Thank you in advance for your attention to this serious matter. We look forward to hearing from you about your remedial actions in response.

Respectfully,
[Signed]
Name and Organisation
Location