Kathputli transit camp: Residents keep losing hope with each fire, waiting for better homes

New Delhi: Residents of the Kathputli colony transit camp in the Anand Parbat area of Central Delhi were moved there in 2014, since when all they have been doing is waiting to be moved into DDA flats as promised by the land-owning authority. But while most of these residents struggle to make ends meet at the transit camp, their lives are only made worse by annual fires, which wreak havoc on their future.

Earlier this week, when a fire ravaged around 50 shanties, several residents, in addition to losing their life savings in cash and almost all their belongings, have also lost key ID documents and other papers crucial for their relocation, whenever the DDA approves it.

Dixit Gaikwad, 26, a resident, says that the DDA should be held responsible for re-applying for their documents, adding that every time a fire breaks out in the camp, people lose a little bit of hope. And while every time a fire rages through the camp, residents are given alternate accommodations, their anger grows every year.

Sushila Gaikwad said that many families with as many as nine people, had been given one-room settlements to relocate after fires damaged their homes. She added that cleanliness and hygiene is a constant worry and that too many people end up having to share restrooms, which is especially becoming a problem for menstruating women.

Sushila was among the many who lost their home in the week's fire along with Rs 22,000 in cash savings.

Her husband and son work for Air India, she said, adding that they are now somehow managing to live their lives. In addition to this, whenever a fire rages through the camp, government officials say they will provide for food and facilities till their homes are rebuilt. But residents say that this is almost never followed through in letter.

One of the residents is Sassi, a domestic worker. She said that all her valuables had been lost in the fire. "For a poor person like me, this house meant everything. I have utensils,

fridge, clothes and food inside which are all gone now," said a teary-eyed Sassi, adding that they are even unable to eat full meals now.

16-year-old Jyoti, was also among those who had lost their homes in this week's fire. She lost all her belongings and also injured herself. Since they moved to the transit camp, her brother has had to quit studying and take up a job to pay for the family's expenses. As the residents of the transit camp keep losing hope with every such tragedy, they keep waiting for the promise of new homes — a wait that began eight years ago.