The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with eviction notices issued to residents of the ecologically sensitive Yamuna Bazar area.

On May 5, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) issued notices to around 310 residential structures in Yamuna Bazar, directing occupants to vacate the area within 15 days, failing which demolition action could be initiated.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said the petition filed by the Yamuna Bazar Residents Welfare Association challenging the notices was not maintainable as it lacked “binding affidavits” from residents to “bear the consequences” of the petition.

“This court is not inclined to entertain the writ petition. This petition is not a PIL and has been filed by the association at the instance of residents. In the absence of authorisation, the petition is not maintainable,” the court said while rejecting the plea. The court, however, clarified that the petitioner would be at liberty to file a proper petition with authorisation from residents.

In the petition, the association challenged the “mass eviction” notices issued by the DDMA, asserting that they were based on “generalised assumptions and speculative apprehension”.

It said the construction on the ghats was not a “recent encroachment” or in the nature of jhuggis, and that records showed the “long-standing continuity and recognition of Panda communities residing and performing religious functions at the said ghats”.

‘Serious threat’

According to the DDMA, Yamuna Bazar is “inundated during the annual Yamuna floods”, posing a serious threat to human life, cattle and property.

On May 18, on the directions of the DDMA, the Delhi Development Authority issued a fresh notice directing residents to “voluntarily vacate the government land and remove all encroachments, temporary or permanent structures, and belongings within 15 days from the date of issue of the notice”.

Over a week after eviction notices were served on May 7 to 310 dwelling units in Delhi’s Yamuna Bazar residential cluster along the floodplains, 43-year-old Rajvati has spent sleepless nights worrying about her family’s future.

“We have lived by the grace of the river. Our family has survived due to it,” she said. Her husband is a priest who conducts last rites, a work carried through generations in his family. Like her, residents of the 32 ghats in Yamuna Bazar,  who have been residing there for generations and whose livelihood depends on the river, said they have nowhere to go.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority on May 7 tasked the Delhi Development Authority with reclaiming the floodplain land. It termed the residential cluster “illegal encroachment” and asked the residents to vacate the area within 15 days. 

‘Didn’t vote for this’

Ms. Rajvati said they are hoping Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will save them. “We did not give our votes to become homeless,” she told The Hindu.

When floods hit during monsoons and their shanties are inundated, many residents temporarily move to nearby locations. “For the past two years, when the floods came, we went to the nearby school at Kashmere Gate for 15-30 days and then came back to our homes,” said 33-year-old Reena Devi, a resident of one of the ghats at Yamuna Bazar.

The fear of loss of livelihood that has revolved around the river generationally puts many at the crossroads. Aslam, 55, has spent 40 years crafting boats on the bank of the river. While he doesn’t stay on the floodplain, the river is his “bread and butter”. 

Bharat Lal Sharma, an 80-year-old priest, recalls 2006 when similar notices were issued. “We fought against it then and got a stay from the Delhi High Court,” he said, adding that now 20 years later, without any rehabilitation plans, the notice makes no sense