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Eviction fears haunt farmers on Yamuna floodplains after DDA demolitions

After 'anti-encroachment' drive in Delhi, displacement of decades-old residents raises questions about the rights of environment and humans

Ratn Shankar Mishra Rakshit Kumar New Delhi

A boy sits idle on the boat as the water level of the Yamuna river rises following rains over the past several days at Yamuna Ghat, in New Delh

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6 min read Last Updated : May 22 2023 | 3:59 PM IST

On an overcast April afternoon, a dejected Islam (he only identifies his first name) sits still on a cot at his jhuggi facing a row of tall office buildings. A farmer, who has been living on the riverside for 40 years, next to the ITO bridge over the Yamuna, he now stares at displacement.

The wheat crop he had sown on 10 bighas (6.19 acres) of land was razed by the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) bulldozers in February, along with tens of jhuggis or slums on the Yamuna floodplains. Some jhuggis, such as the one where Islam and his family live, are still standing.

“Yahaan park banega, navein chalengi... (A park will be built here, and boats rowed),” he says about the evacuated site, claiming he has been told so by residents of the area.