• Source:JND
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AAP leaders– Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bharadwaj– on Sunday visited the Madrasi Camp in Jangpura, where the administration is holding a demolition drive against illegal encroachments alongside Barapullah Drain.

Bharadwaj, while talking with ANI, alleged that the BJP had betrayed people residing in the area, as their shanties were razed. He said the saffron party distributed cards to people in the area but paid no heed to their problems after forming the government in Delhi.

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"Ever since the BJP government has been formed in Delhi, every day there is news of bulldozer action somewhere or the other... This Madrasi camp is more than 50 years old... In such a situation, these people were displaced. Before the election, the BJP candidate came here and distributed cards to each and every person... and when they (BJP) won, they did not even take a peek here, these people's slums were demolished... This is a big betrayal that the BJP has given to these people... We are with them and their fight will be fought from the streets to the Parliament," he said.

Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the BJP was deliberately targeting people from Purvanchal, including UP and Bihar, by demolishing their houses. He said AAP MPs will raise this issue in the upcoming Monsoon Session.

"Yesterday, we went to Wazirpur, where we saw the demolished homes of people from Purvanchal, including UP and Bihar. Now we are here in the Madrasi camp. The BJP government is against poor, labourers, hawkers, they want to finish them. This Madrasi camp is existing since last 50 years, they razed the settlement. They had distributed the card - Jahan Jhuggi Wahin Makaan, now they should give new houses here only. We will be raising this in Parliament Session which is starting on July 21," Singh said.

Reacting to the allegations by AAP, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta said the UT government has no role in the demolition exercise and the action came after orders by the court. She said the court maintained that machines cannot reach inside to clean the Barapulla Drain due to encroachment, which could lead to flooding in Delhi.

CM Gupta also said people who haven’t yet been allocated a house will continue to live there until the government provide them with an alternative.

"I have clearly stated that neither the government nor the administration can do anything about the slums, for which the court has given orders to remove them. Barapula Madrasi slum is situated on the banks of the drain and the court reiterated four times that it is necessary to remove these slums so that machines can reach the drain for cleaning. If this does not happen, there is a possibility of a flood in Delhi... We are concerned about the people of Delhi... Works are going on in the whole of Delhi at a cost of Rs 700 crore, which was never done by Arvind Kejriwal's government nor by the Congress government... Till the time the person living in the slums gets a permanent house, they will stay there and we will provide them with better facilities. If there is a court order, then we cannot do anything about it," she said.

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People removed from the Madrasi camp area under the demolition drive against encroachment in Delhi’s Jangpura have been given flats in Narela. Over 189 families were given EWS flats in Sector G7, Pocket 4 and 5.