Buried under a swanky IGIA, hopes and future of 59 Dalit families

The glitzy Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) holds a place of pride in the hearts of many Delhiites. Hidden behind this story of an upwardly mobile modern India, however, is a sombre tale of loss and apathy.

Hundreds of Dalit families were uprooted from Nangal Dewat village, which once existed where the IGIA Terminal 3 later came up. Almost a decade later, while some have been rehabilitated, others are still waiting for their lives to move forward. One such person is Dayawati, who lost her strength and will to struggle after her husband died while fighting for his family's right to own a house. The 56-year-old has an unemployed son and a daughter of marriageable age.

"It has been almost 10 years, too long to sustain hope. In 2007, amid ongoing expansion of the airport's Terminal 3, we were asked to vacate our houses. We were promised permanent accommodation elsewhere. Later, 63 of the 122 families were allocated land near Vasant Kunj, while rest of us are still stranded," she said.

"It has been a long and painful fight. I lost my husband, house, livelihood... almost everything. If we still manage to get a piece of land, probably my children will not suffer as much we did," said Dayawati, who has been protesting in front of the office of Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the last two months, along with many others.

Dhaja Devi, 50, and Kunti, 45, also lost their husbands and have been struggling alone. "I have a daughter. More than a dozen families have turned down our marriage proposal because we do not own a house. My son has changed over eight jobs and we have changed our rented accommodation several times. If my daughter remains unmarried, who will be responsible for her life?" Kunti said.

On January 23, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognizance of the fact that 59 families remain without rehabilitation even after nine years of eviction from their houses in the Nangal Dewat village due to the expansion of IGIA Terminal 3. The Commission observed that the failure to rehabilitate these families was a violation of human rights.

"The Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, and the AAI Chairman, asking for reports on the steps taken or proposed for relief and rehabilitation of these 59 families, within six weeks. The commission has also observed that it is the duty of the state to provide basic amenities to citizens, including shelter. The authorities that reportedly forced these families of Dalits out, are liable to provide them with alternate accommodation in lieu of their land and houses, which have been taken over by the state," an NHRC statement said.

Meanwhile Sunil Dutt, one of the victims and a campaigner said the families have been protesting for two months now, but the government seems unmoved. "We wrote a number of letters to the Aviation Ministry, Governor, Chief Minister and even to senior Delhi Development Authority (DDA), and the AAI officials, but to no avail. We were asked to vacate our homes overnight despite the High Court decision being in our favour. We request the government to listen to our plea and act on it. It is a matter of our families' future," Dutt said.