After a hiatus of nearly a month, shifting of Kathputli Colony residents to the transit camp in Anand Parbat was resumed on Monday. The Election Commission of India (ECI) gave its nod to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Friday to proceed with the relocation project for which the latter has reconstituted a team. The housing agency, on March 24, had received a showcause notice from the ECI for violation of the Model Code of Conduct after which it had to freeze the entire process.   

“Now that polling is over in the national Capital, the ECI has given its approval to restart the project. We got the notification through the Delhi Election Commission on Friday. Today (Monday) we have again constituted a team who would assist residents and peacefully carry out the shifting process,” said a DDA official. So far, the DDA has issued 375 demolition slips to the residents of Kathputli Colony out of which 50 slips were given on Monday.    

Kicking off with a rough and slow start as several groups protested against the DDA’s plan of in-situ development, still, the authority has managed to bring in 92 families to the transit camp in Rajinder Nagar’s Anand Parbat area till date. “The pace will catch up in a week’s time as there was a gap of a month. So far, 170 people have been issued registration slips,” said the official. The colony, known for puppeteers, houses around 3,200 families.

Earlier this month, the DDA had written to the ECI seeking to restart the process which was opposed by several along with BJP MlA RP Singh. On March 24, the ECI had issued a showcause notice to DDA officials for violation of Model Code of Conduct for continuing with the shifting of Kathputli Colony near Shadipur flyover in Rajinder Nagar. Even then, the showcause notice was issued after Singh, who is the area’s MlA, had lodged a complaint at the Electoral Office (EO).