DELHI ASSEMBLY POLL: Lack of basic amenities continues to define lives of slum dwellers

“Hum toh ek mazdoor hai. Ghar toh hazaro banaye par khud ek kiraye ke kamre mein rehte hai. (I built hundreds of houses but myself live in a 1-room rented accommodation),” said a disinterested 52-year-old Junaid Khan, an inhabitant of a slum area in east Delhi’s Trilokpuri.

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As The Tribune tried to further speak with him, Khan said he could not waste time speaking to people when “nothing would be ever done”. Without any hope in his eyes, Khan, within moments, left the place pedalling away on his bicycle.

Broken roads, dangling wires from electricity poles, sewage problems, piles of garbage on every 50 metres of the road, polluted water and what not. The list of misery is endless when one tries to define any slum area of the National Capital.

Notably, one may casually divide Delhi into three areas — one is the posh Lutyens zone housing the top VVIPs of the country, the second is an area of mixed higher and middle class income group and the third one is the slum area where people live in uninhabitable conditions.

The residents of more than 700 Jhuggi Jhompri (JJ) clusters across Delhi may lack several amenities but still carry the most vital thing needed the most by a politician — a vote.

For the last few days, political parties have begun flocking to the slum areas of the capital which hold a sizable population and have the power to significantly affect the political landscape. The parties are promising welfare schemes, better living conditions, all-in-all a dignified life. The important clause is “if they are voted to power”.

The next pitstop for The Tribune was Sanjay Colony, a large slum area in southeast Delhi, which had last year captured headlines when people were seen running behind a water tanker.

The slum built on 25 acres of DDA land is home to over 500 families; most of them second or third-generation migrants from UP and Bihar. A complete lack of basic amenities defines the lives of the dwellers.

A boy closely observing this newspaper’s reportage came forward and tried to show a scar on his forehead. “A cow attacked me 2 years back. There are several roaming here and there, endangering our lives every moment,” said 15-year-old Raju highlighting another problem — stray cattle menace.

He explained that people dump garbage on the roadside which gets piled over time and attracts stray cattle.

Moving forward, this newspaper reached Madanpur Khadar area which is located in southeast Delhi near Sarita Vihar Metro station where locals had somewhat similar complaints. “Not only do we lack basic amenities, but there is also a security problem. Robberies and snatching on roads have created fear in the populace,” said Nadir Khan.

Even as promises by the political parties have currently become the order of the day, the festival of democracy offers a glimmer of hope that one day the Capital may become slum-free.