4000 migrant families in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, surviving floods, muddy winds, became homeless in a day : Valley Vision

As we drove across the margins of the migrant settlement in the Purana Pantun Pool Road in Mayur Vihar, the winds carrying mud grains were striking against us intermittently, forcing us to take cover for our eyes. Commonly called Yamuna Kadar, this settlement is situated on the outskirts along the banks of the Yamuna River, under the flyover. A line of tents with tarpaulins, huts made of a minimum amount of clay mud, and a few thatched roofs are seen along the way.

Hundreds of families live here in the suburbs of the Noida-Delhi border in East Delhi, primarily engaged in cultivation. Most have come here from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Jharkhand and have settled here for more than 20 years. Struggling to sustain their livelihood and building shelters, education has been of little or no concern. Children, both girls and boys, worked in fields instead of enrolling in schools. 

On several occasions, the residents have complained to the officials about unsafe transportation during the night, especially when it rains. Ashok Kumar (40), who was running a small shop, says that most of the time, they are attacked by snakes, and anyone in an emergency cannot make it to any hospitals nearby as there is no means of transportation during the night. Additionally, there are no dispensaries in the locality.

The residents have also been worried about their children, who must take these roads to and from schools.

The windy mud grains caused by the sediments on the bank and the under-constructed roads make it extremely difficult to live in the open space here. The average Air Quality Index here is 300+, making outdoor exposure hazardous. Nearly all families live out in the open without proper roofs, walls, or protective measures.

However, none of their grievances were addressed or accounted for all these years by any of the officials or the concerned authorities.

Nevertheless, during the 2024 Loksabha elections, the candidates of all parties visited the region and asked for votes. The region has 3000 voters with ration cards and Aadhar cards who have lived here for over thirty years.

On July 5, 2024, the Delhi Development Authority, along with the CSF and Delhi Police, demolished all the settlements along the Yamuna Kadar, including the shops and homes of the residents here. 

Twelve bulldozers and two tractors continuously carried out the demolition from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the same day.  The DDA demolished the houses and other settlements, including shops and a learning centre where children used to come to study and guided to be enrolled in schools.

The Delhi High Court issued an order on 2nd July 2024 dismissing all five pending cases in favour of the Delhi Development Authority. The notice pasted in the region says that the DDA has been ordered to remove all the encroachments following the order. On the same day of the order, the DDA issued a request for proposal (RFP) to appoint a consultant to prepare a feasibility report and select a developer for the riverfront project through a Public-Private partnership.

A public notice was put up asking the people to vacate the area by July 4 and announcing the Anti-encroachment drive on July 5, 2024, just a day after the election results were out. The notice says that the eviction should be done so that the Developmental work of Yamuna Flood Plain can be started.

The Project Yamuna River Front is redeveloped in 25 hectares along the Western bank of the Yamuna, part of the 1500 hectares of the entire Yamuna Flood Plain. The tender mentioned that all activities should follow the guidelines of the National Green Tribunal.

This 200-crore Project was already in place when the AAP government first launched it at the ‘Yamuna Aarti Event’ in Sonia Ghat in 2016. Then, Water Minister Kapil Mishra said that no concrete would be used and all the structures would be made of bamboo and wood. After the Master Plan of 2021, the stretch along the Yamuna was categorised in the O zone; hence, no concrete or permanent structure could be built there. 

The migrant settlements along the Purana Patun Road in Mayur Vihar were all temporary settlements made of wood and bamboo. None had laid down a brick or concrete slab.

Residents complain that the authorities, CSF guards, and police deliberately discarded food grains, basic necessities plates, and water carriers and destroyed the public hand pump. The residents of these areas have fought against the recent floods, the pandemic, and the muddy granules that hover around. However, their struggles could not overcome the government policies that no longer accommodate their sustenance and livelihood.

Cases and key orders from Delhi High Court 

Five cases were filed by different parties against the Delhi Development Authority. The first case was filed in 2016, three in 2019 and one in 2022. Responding to the petition Chhote Lal v/s DDA &Ors, the order dated 14.10.2019, the court designated DDA as the State Nodal Agency for rehabilitation, and the matter to be notified on 01.04.2020. Meanwhile, the court also ordered that “the DDA and DUSIB (Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board) will work out among themselves as to which authority is obligated to conduct a survey. A meeting in that behalf will be held by the concerned officers. The result of the survey will be placed before the Court”.

In 2016, the DDA, along with the police officials, arrived with bulldozers to demolish the dwellings of the Shani Mandir Area, which led to peaceful protests by the people. A writ petition was later filed on the same, to which the court had directed the DDA to visit and inspect the said JJ Cluster. The DDA carried out an inspection, and a Status Report stating approximately a hundred jhuggis existed in the said area was filed.

A similar incident also took place on October 10, 2019, when the dwellings in Mayur Vihar were demolished without following any relocation norms. Following this, a petition was filed for staying further demolition activity. However, on 15 November 2019, further demolitions were headstarted and the petitioners were threatened and told to vacate the region. After this incident, another petition was filed, to which the court issued an interim request asking the collaborative efforts of DDA and DUSIB to conduct a survey and in-situ rehabilitation of the petitioners.

The petition argues that the petitioners are entitled to rehabilitation under the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015 (“Rehabilitation Policy”). As per the said policy, JJ Clusters that came up before January 1, 2006, shall not be removed without providing them with alternate housing.

While hearing the joined petitions of Chhote Lal and Yamuna Khadar Slum Union v/s  DDA &ors on October 30, 2023, the court also directed that the Interim order dated 14.10.2019 be continued until the next hearing date.

The DDA and other respondents state that the petitioners have concealed the fact that they are squatting on the Yamuna floodplains and carrying out commercial activity, thereby polluting the River Yamuna, and for other reasons, including setting up a biodiversity park. However, on Purana Patun Road in Mayur Vihar, these construction works are undertaken by the PWD for the flyover and have been ongoing for a long time along the streams of the Yamuna River.

In addition to the muddy winds, the construction works in the region have made life around more difficult and have soiled the streams nearby.

The PWD officials announced in May 2024 that the Forest Department has approved cutting down approximately 200 trees. As soon as clearance is given, a section of the flyover will be opened to the public.

On June 25, 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs made a crucial appointment of Manish Kumar Gupta as the Principal Secretary after transferring Ashwini Kumar to the MCS as Commissioner. The Principal Secretary is one of the two posts reserved for the Center-appointed bureaucrats, the other being the Chief Secretary post. 

The court hearing and the order dated 10.04.2024 show the Criminal Miscellaneous Petition of Saher Ali  (2022) v/s Shr. Manish Kumar Gupta and the other four cases granted time till 16 April 2024 for Mr Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners.

On July 2, 2024, the court significantly considered DDA’s argument that the said areas in the petition do not fall under the Master list of 675 identified JJ clusters and 82 bastis compiled by the DUSIB. The court observed that  “the entire DUSIB Policy, 2015, would be rendered infructuous, and there would have been no necessity for the DUSIB to bring out the policy restricting the right of rehabilitation only to those Clusters which were existing on 01.01.2006 and those jhuggis which were inside those Clusters as on 01.01.2015.”

A learning center and story of resilience

Pathashala, Satyendra Prakash’s learning centre, also runs in the middle of what is commonly called the ‘Sabzi Mandi’ area along the banks of Yamuna, agricultural fields and among the homes built of plastic sheets. In addition to the mud grains floating in the air, the dust particles aroused by the gusty winds and sounds of construction works, also underway, keep the space fully covered in the thick jacket of dust.’

Prakash, who is also a migrant from Uttar Pradesh, has been dreaming of getting these children to see Delhi’s booming face, not shrouded in windy granules, and helping them use Education as a means to overcome their hurdles.

As a postgraduate in Education, he started teaching migrant children in 2015. “My family and friends asked me why I did not begin to teach instead of only working in the fields”, he recollected. 

In the beginning, Prakash started to teach five kids under a tree in an open space. Today, the space has a bamboo-laden shelter that caters to the needs of the students. However, their lessons occur outside the shelter under the sun and among the granules that hover around. Primarily, the shed serves to save the chairs and benches.

Today, the shed no longer exists. The benches and chairs where the students once used to study are left out in the open, some broken, and others completely gone without any trace. Construction and muddy winds have constantly challenged the migrant children’s hopes for education. However, the centre has been amidst all the adversities, from muddy winds to the pandemic and recent floods in 2023.

Before the Covid and recent floods, there were almost three hundred to four hundred migrant students coming here to continue their education. He started in December with the support of his close ones. “My family and a few others were with me. I started in December—cold and rainy—and closed for months. I pushed myself daily to start again. In earlier days, there was a concrete slab under. We used to hold classes on that.”

In the evening, girls come here to study, and in the morning, boys who have their school in the evening shift occupy the space.

“The girls you see today were not allowed to study then.” “These days…they study and work in the fields or help their parents. They do both.” Prakash remarks.

He is aware of the gender roles and gender discrimination existing within the community. “The girls that you see here today…most of them were not allowed to go to schools or even had come here to learn,” he says.

When I met Divya (14) in 2023, she was enthusiastic and eagerly learning Math at the centre. She was one of the studious girls at Pathshala, striving to excel in her studies despite adversities.

The day after their settlements were demolished, I met Divya again after a year near the remnants of her home. She was sleeping on a wooden cot in the open air, roofless, amongst the rubbles. She was just back from school.

Divya’s father, Birpal (40), has five children, including Divya and an older daughter. He came to Delhi 22 years ago and has lived here since then. Birpal used to work on a contract at the nearby fields. “Now, with the demolition, the contract is over.  I won’t be able to work in the fields,” he sighs.

“I began with simple hygiene lessons and Focused on enrolling them in the nearby schools”

“My father is a handicapped. We are cultivators; when we moved to Delhi, we continued cultivating. I have a younger brother. People asked me to teach their kids. I started to teach five kids in the open air under a tree. I received less support from the people during that time. Parents of the children here had no idea about education or how to secure it,” Prakash said.

It was initially difficult to convince these children’s parents. The parents worked in the fields with their children, and the girls did household chores and agricultural labour. 

For them, it’s impossible to detach them from these as it is their means of sustenance. But incorporating education as part of their lives, along with their livelihood and within the community, helped Satya Prakash, a credible point of contact for the families here. Children of all ages from different households and religions are here to learn. “We rarely get volunteers to teach, and most of the time, I am the only teacher here.”

Kavita (18) now teaches here. She is also from the community like Prakash. She says the hope of the entire community is to get their children and younger generations educated. “Nothing should stop us from getting an education. It is the only strength and hope we have,” she says.

On July 6, a day after the demolitions, I met Uma on the way back. She was standing near the remnants of her home, trying to sort the rubbles around. I waved at her, and she gave a coy smile for a second after maintaining her mature posture.

“If you see the children around here, you would understand that they need basic hygiene and nutrition in the first place. Therefore, I also emphasise the importance of imparting hygiene and value-based lessons,” says Prakash.

As per the UNICEF research on migrant children in 2010 in India, 19.76 million migrant children in the age group 0-14 years were involved in child labour.

A study done by Action Education also shows that 50% of migrant children are engaged in work to help their parents work or are paid workers, and 28% of children were not admitted to school when they returned from villages after the pandemic wave subsided.

Most of these children in the region also lacked the documents needed to enrol in the schools. Sometimes, their parents did not have the necessary documents to get their children placed in schools. “Then it is a task to get these documents from the Government, waiting to begin the documentation process. It takes time; until then, these children are kept away from schools.” Therefore, taking these children to our learning centre is necessary to overcome the learning loss, prepare them to amalgamate with the learning in regular schools, and get them along with their fellow friends.

Prakash has completed the documentation of 50-70 families and their children and helped them get admission through RTE.

As we spoke, a mother came with a few papers and asked for updates on the documentation process. Prakash sometimes has to procure these for them; however, essential documents like Aadhar cards, change of address and ration cards are attended to by themselves upon giving proper knowledge and awareness. They also discuss their children’s studies and future endeavours with Prakash.

“These children cannot reach the levels of other students in their classes. Coming from families and environments with no educational background, they often struggle in the classroom. Here, they can shorten that gap and feel more comfortable and confident being with their friends in the community,” says Prakash.

A 2010 study found that more than 55% of children who migrate with their parents do not get access to education at their destination. This contrasts with 75% of children who get education in their village schools. The reasons for not going to school range from 15% of them working to support their families and taking care of younger siblings to a lack of schools nearby. As per the 2011 census, one-third of the migrant parents in Delhi NCR are from Uttar Pradesh. 

In contrast to most migrant parents placed in construction works around Delhi, the families here also sought to engage in cultivation as their primary occupation. However, the recent floods and the overflowing of the Yamuna River have impeded their livelihood.

Over three hundred families were displaced after the recent floods forced them to be displaced from these regions.

On July 12, 2023, the Yamuna River marked a record rise of 208.3 metres, overflowing above the settlements alongside the river. Families living near the Paatshaala also had to relocate due to the floods. They left with their families and never returned, causing a dip in the number of students who used to attend the learning centre. Before the floods, the migrant children were caught between the uncertainties and state neglect during the pandemic. It had caused a colossal learning loss among children. The shutdown of schools and the migration back to their villages had left these children no other option but to drop out of schooling and education. 

“During the Covid time, we had no electricity or drinking water, let alone smartphones”, Prakash recalls. In 2020, we were able to distribute a few smartphones. However, many did not have access to any kind of learning during the pandemic and returned to their villages. The UNESCO report also shows that with the increased need for resources in households after the pandemic,  40% of students were at risk of dropping out of school and being forced to be in child labour.

After the pandemic, most families migrated back to their villages, and only a few returned. During the floods in 2023, rooms and many homes were submerged, and they were again forced to shift to higher areas, detaching from their community. These stages over the years have led to a drastic drop in 200-300 children from this learning centre. Prakash has not been able to connect with those children again.

“However, I am happy to see how far they have com,” these were Prakash’s words when I met him in 2023. Under his guidance and care, students have passed their 10th, and girls are even taking science for higher education. He proudly shares their success. 

Prakash proudly showed us a video of a 6th-grade child delivering a speech on Independence Day at the learning centre. The child has completed ten years of learning here. ‘Including him, some of the kids have joined us from primary classes, ‘ Prakash says while he watches the video and praises him.

Even though the centre is now in rubble, neither the residents of Yamuna Kada nor the children have stopped their hopes for education. A day after the demolitions, children came to learn from here. A few primary kids had put carpets on the ground, kept their bags on, removed the chappals, and were ready to learn.

Since 2015, Prakash says that parents have been looking forward to sending their children here and supporting them in education. Prakash recognises that these children will always be an integral part of regionalism and shared socio-economic conflicts and that it is impossible for them to detach from the culture and livelihood. Prakash tries to strike a balance between this understanding and the need for modern, quality education. And that has shown considerable success in students joining his learning centre.

“The belief system has shifted now. There have been visible changes over these years since 2015. Parents are not reluctant to send their kids to school these days. They have cultivated trust in education for a better future for their families,” says Prakash.

In addition to covering the prescribed school syllabus, Prakash also dedicates time to social-emotional learning, imparts constitutional studies, and celebrates Ambedkar Day and Children’s Day.

“I want these children to be self-reliant for independent learning. We aim to provide quality education to them by considering their social factors also”, he adds.

Prakash also shared that he used to show images of Delhi and inspirational stories to motivate them.

‘The children used to ask, where are these buildings? We haven’t seen them.” He tells just like the students asked him. Today, these children dream of seeing the better side of life and livelihood through education. The number of students who used to come to the learning centre has drastically reduced during the pandemic and after the floods. Prakash has no whereabouts of those children. Some went back to their villages; others moved to a different area. Whatsoever, these children are most likely to be peerless without any support for education, without a guide like Prakash. 

On the way back, as the evening school for boys disperses, children wave in respect and love and greet him, ‘Namaste. Good evening, sir”. Despite the muddy granules and the noise of tractors and nearby constructions, these children come here bearing the heat, cold, and muddy winds daily to make their dreams come true. They live, work, play and learn all in the same place. 

On the day after the demolitions, The boys went to the school for their evening shift, and the girls were back. I wondered back from the school where they would come to. There is no home and no space as safe here.

What Next?

A day after the demolition, the residents of Mayur Vihar took to the roads protesting for safe relocation and rehabilitation. Most of them were clueless about where to go. For the children here, it would be the loss of their homes, schools, education, and hopes for the future. The daily wage labourers here are incapable of affording the rent and relocation. Some are still living around the open areas with no safety and are unable to leave.

A few of them who had makeshift shops had completely lost their means of livelihood.