After razing his two-room house, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Thursday offered to move Wakeel Hassan, a rat-hole miner who was part of the Silkyara tunnel rescue operation, and his family to an EWS flat at Narela, a temporary shelter to his family and a job for him.
Hassan has, however, declined the offer and demanded that his house be constructed on the same land.
Hassan threatened to go on a hunger strike if his demands were not met.
Hassan said DDA officials told him that he was offered temporary accommodation late on Wednesday night and would later be provided a house but he refused the offer as it was only a “verbal assurance”.
Hassan and his family spent Wednesday night on the road after DDA razed his house in Delhi’s Khajoori Khas earlier in the day. Hassan alleged the demolition drive was carried out without prior notice to him.
DDA Action On Rat Minor’s Home
On Wednesday, the DDA said the demolition drive was carried out on land that was “part of planned development land”.
Some TV channels showed Hassan and his family sitting and having dinner amid the rubble of what used to be their home.
He spent the night on the street with his wife and two children near the spot where their house stood. The family’s neighbours’ provided them with food and other necessary items.
DDA’s Clarification
Standing by its action, the DDA later in a statement said that “in its role as an authority, it cannot allow encroachment on its land or unauthorised constructions in its development areas”.
Not long ago, the rat-hole miner was feted for being part of a team that rescued the 41 workers trapped in Uttarkashi’s Silkyara tunnel in November last year.
The DDA also said Hassan was aware of his house’s status of encroachment as it had been previously removed in 2016 and was encroached upon again in 2017.
Asserting that it was a “routine encroachment removal drive”, the DDA said Wednesday’s action did not target any particular individual”.
Having come to know about the contributions of Hassan in the rescue operation in Uttarakhand, the DDA “extended its hand of support” to the family but it was refused, the statement said.
The urban body, however, clarified that “at no point of time before or during the demolition exercise, were the DDA officials aware of Hassan’s role in the rescue operation in Uttarakhand.
DDA said when Hassan’s role in the tunnel rescue operation came to light, officials made alternate arrangements for shelter for his family and went to the site and contacted him.
The DDA said it offered “an EWS flat at Narela as an immediate measure of shelter.
The demolition team and local police reached the location and requested Hassan’s family to vacate the encroached area, the DDA said. After affording sufficient time to (Hassan) for removal of their belongings from the encroached structure, the encroached area was cleared,” the statement said.
Hassan’s Demand
However, Hassan refused the offer and demanded a house where it once stood.
“We want our own house at our own place. I request people to give me my own home. This house was bought for Rs 33 lakh in 2016. My friends and relatives live in the area. I want to live among them. Narela is quite far from my home. What will I do if I go there? I urge DDA to return my own two-room house that they have demolished,” he told news agency PTI.
“We don’t want anything, just want our home back. If our demand will not get fulfilled, then we will sit on a hunger strike,” he said.
Earlier, Hassan had asked the authorities to make their assurances in writing. Hassan claimed DDA officials told him that “a house will also be provided in the Govindpuri area soon”, but he refused their offer because the assurance was “verbal”.
He had alleged on Wednesday that no notice was served to him before the demolition.
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