With polls in the Capital over, shifting procedure of residents of Kathputli Colony in Rajinder Nagar may begin soon so that redevelopment work of the locality can resume. The shifting was on hold after the Election Commission of India (ECI) notice for violation of Model Code of Conduct last month on a complaint filed by BJP MlA RP Singh.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has sought permission from the Delhi Election Office (DEO) to start shifting residents of the colony. In a letter dated April 16 to the Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev, DDA Principal Commissioner (land and Development) T Srinidhi has requested the Election Commission to grant permission for the same since the election is over in Delhi and shifting would not be construed a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Sources said the Electoral Office has referred the letter to the ECI.
Despite protests by residents of Kathputli Colony against their eviction and being shifted to a transit camp at Anand Parbat, the DDA had decided to go ahead for redevelopment of the colony. Sources in the DDA said that the authority approved the proposal to cover bona fide residents of the upper floors in the slum cluster who figured in the survey list of 2010-2011 for allotment and getting accommodated in a transit camp. The DDA also decided to consider those residents whose names were not found on the survey list but who could prove they had been living in the Kathputli Colony prior to the date of closure of the survey and have documents to support their claim.
As per the plans drawn up in 2007, the community of puppeteers and performers at the colony will be shifted to Anand Parbat transit camps temporarily until the private developer builds multi-storey flats at the current site (in-situ) to accommodate the families.
Private party had been awarded the Rs6.11 crore project of developing Kathputli Colony, which is spread over 5.22 hectares (or 13 acres). According to the officials, many of the pradhans have expressed interest in shifting and confirmed their community’s willingness to shift.
Spread over 5.22 hectares of land, the developers will be developing 2,800 dwelling units at the existing slums and hand over the same to DDA. In turn, the developer will be given the remaining free space to be used for commercial and residential purposes. According to the proposal, during construction and till the residents are moved back to the colony, the developer will maintain the transit accommodation.
It is noted that the Delhi Electoral Office was upset with the way the DDA officials started shifting Kathputli Colony residents despite the fact this amounts to a gross violation of the Model Code
of Conduct.