Evicted slum-dwellers take to streets in D’sala

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 25

The slum-dwellers evicted from the Charan Khad area took to the streets protesting against the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation authorities today.

Coming out in their support, former zila parishad member from Baijnath Akshey Jasrotia made public a notice issued by the Joint Commissioner, MC, warning locals against giving land on rent to the slum-dwellers. Though the Mayor had assured the slum-dwellers that they would be provided land in adjoining villages, the notice revealed that the officials had hatched a conspiracy to throw them out, Jasrotia said.He said the poor people could not buy land and it was inhuman to throw them out during the rainy season.

Meanwhile, the slum-dwellers today marched through the town raising slogans against the municipal corporation. Later, they sat on a dharna outside the MC office. Those leading the procession went inside to meet the officials, but nobody was sitting there. The protesters then headed to the Deputy Commissioner office and handed him a memorandum.

It has been a week today and the slum-dwellers are still homeless. After the efforts to relocate them on common land in adjoining villages failed, they tried to take land on rent from residents of the adjoining villages to set up their huts. But the villagers were stopped from giving them land. Most of the slum-dwellers do not want to leave as a Tibetan NGO, Tonglen, is providing free education to their children.