You are logged in
Loading…
You don’t have any Active Subscription.
Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one.
Your active subscription(s)
Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
Products you’ve access to
Additional Subscription Benefits
Account Settings
Need help with your subscription?
June 30, 2026e-Paper
The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.
First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.
Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.
Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!
Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers
THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers
Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there
Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary.
The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.
June 30, 2026e-Paper
Published – June 30, 2026 12:20 am IST – NEW DELHI
The transit camp at Anand Parbat where 2,800 families have been staying for as many as 12 years | Photo Credit: Suruchi Kumari
Lakshmi was born and raised in a family of performers in the now-razed Kathputli Colony in west Delhi’s Shadipur. She was 19 when her family moved from the ‘magicians’ ghetto’, as Salman Rushdie described the settlement in Midnight’s Children, into porta cabins set up on a hillock named Anand Parbat about 3 km away. The arrangement was supposed to be temporary.
Her family was among the 4,000 displaced between 2014 and 2017 after the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) entered into an in situ slum rehabilitation agreement with private builder Raheja Developers. It was the first time the urban body had signed an agreement for such a project under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
As per the terms, the developer was to hand over 2,800 Economically Weaker Section (EWS) flats, along with all basic facilities, on around 60% of the 12.89 acres of land to the authority free of cost, and receive the remaining 40% for remunerative housing to sell in the open market and for commercial complexes. Of the remaining families, 492 were allotted flats in Narela while others were deemed ineligible for resettlement. The contract also held the developer responsible for meeting the basic civic expenses at the temporary camp.
The DDA has not entered into another PPP in situ redevelopment project since. However, the model is now set to be adopted under the Delhi Slum and JJ Cluster Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2026 announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on June 16. Under the policy, which is yet to be notified, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board is the nodal agency for works carried out on Delhi government land.
Ms. Lakshmi is now 31 and lives with seven members of her family, including her children, in two one-room porta cabins, with no sign yet of the promised flats. “When we came here in 2014, we were told the arrangement was only for two years. After that, the deadline kept getting pushed. Sometimes they said Deepavali, then the new year, and so on,” she said.
“The last I heard, we were supposed to move into the flats in May this year. We have lost all hope,” Ms. Lakshmi said.
Upon entering the transit camp at Anand Parbat, one is immediately confronted by open drains carrying human faeces, mounds of garbage, and a water tanker that residents say they are forced to rely on because the tap water is unfit for consumption.
The residents here are trapped in a double bind. They cannot move out of their visibly worn-out plywood rooms because as per the terms of the contract, if any family is found not residing at the transit camp during random inspections by the DDA or the developer, their names can be struck off the beneficiaries’ list.
Her family of dhol players had plenty of work to sustain their livelihoods before moving to Anand Parbat, Ms. Lakshmi said.
“Our work continued through all seasons. People used to come looking for artistes and performers in Kathputli Colony. Now, we have to find them,” she added.
When reached for comment, the DDA and Raheja Developers did not respond.
Prakash Bhatt, a 58-year-old puppeteer, quotes from the folklore Veer Amar Singh Rathore to describe the hopelessness of the families at Anand Parbat: “Che mahine ka vaada karke saal bhar naa aaye (After promising to return in six months, you didn’t even show up in a year).”
Another generational puppeteer, Puran Bhatt, said his work has been severely affected. His family moved to Delhi from Rajasthan over six decades ago. He has performed in 30 countries, all before moving to the transit camp. “Since our address changed, nobody knows where we live,” he said.
Buildings under construction at the now-razed Kathputli Colony. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
When The Hindu visited the construction site in Shadipur, work appeared to have been paused.
Several yellow-painted EWS towers stood in the compound beside others still under construction, including a commercial complex.
A site engineer, who did not wish to be identified, said work has not resumed for nearly seven months, even after pollution-related restrictions were lifted. The site manager said the work had been paused due to “procedural hurdles”.
Published – June 30, 2026 12:20 am IST
Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
BACK TO TOP
Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
Leave a Reply