Amid pandemic, Gurugram ups ante on anti-encroachment drives

Gurugram: Amid the pandemic, which has left the city's urban poor in deplorable financial circumstances, and COVID-19 cases now being detected in these slum areas of Gurugram, public authorities here have now destroyed over 250 slums, thereby displacing over 900 people in what they have called a massive anti-encroachment drive.

The slums that have been destroyed were in the areas of Sikanderpur and Southern peripheral road. On Monday, more than 150 slums that had come up in the Aravallis around Sikanderpur were destroyed by public agencies of Gurugram.

A large number of cases have been reported from Sikanderpur, however, the administration has not come up with the figures for how many people have been affected in the Sikanderpur slums.

Prior to this, over 100 slums were destroyed at the Southern peripheral road. Not only slums but public agencies also went for "illegal" nurseries that had come up in the area. Social activists have now also questioned whether such action is necessary in times of a pandemic, where there is widespread economic distress among the urban poor.

"We are functioning as per law. You cannot illegally encroach upon government land or a prime area in the city. If you do, then we will have to take action against you sooner rather than later," said a senior official from the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram.

However, the displacement of these residents amid the pandemic has also raised questions about whether the virus may spread further with no place for them to live and follow COVID-19 protocols of social distancing and self-isolation.

Many slums like the ones in Nathupur have reported over 150 cases. In fact, slums in Nathupur along with those in Manesar, Sohna and Patel Nagar have also been classified as large outbreak zones.

With 20 percent of Gurugram's urban areas being covered with slums, poor surveillance and testing continue to be major problems in these deprived areas.

A large number of menial workers like domestic maids, drivers, gardeners, industrial and construction workers reside in these areas and many COVID-19 cases have been reported among menial workers, which was observed in the initial trends of the Serological survey.

According to the sources, 738 acres of MCG land has been encroached upon, with a valuation of around Rs 2,000 crore.