New Delhi: Situated along sectors 3 and 4 are the Ravi Dass Camp where four of the six rapists of Nirbhaya resided and a place where the family still lives. The total population of the cluster colony is estimated to be over 1000 persons.
Interestingly, in a colony where the accommodation is for only 300 families over the years the population of the colony has grown due to a large number of tenants coming and residing in the area.
Despite living in extremely small rooms, the large demand for tenants in the area is resulting in one single room being charged between Rs 3000 to Rs 4000.
"I am from Madhya Pradesh and I work as a lab boy in one of the public hospitals in the city. I have been staying at one of the tents in the room for over a year. No one wants to reside in the slums but to live in a metropolis like Delhi the budget also needs to be taken care of. Even though the rooms are small, the cleanliness levels are much better than what I expected," said Suraj.
Not only at Ravi Dass camp but the huge demand for rented rooms continue to be prevalent in other cluster colonies as well. This is despite the fact that the colonies are still illegal. Most of the residents in the shanties have expressed hope that the recent decision of regularising the colonies if implemented well will take out the fear among the tenants who choose to stay in slums with fewer options available.
It is important to note that even as the RK Puram Vidhan Sabha the constituency has the residence of a large number of bureaucrats and ultra-rich citizens there are also a substantial number of slums.
They also form a significant vote bank for the parties which continue to campaign aggressively about their schemes in these colonies.
Most of the shanties have existed in the area for 30 to 40 years. The growth of population in these slums over the years have resulted in a large scale diversity among people in the form of communities as well as professions like vendors, drivers to even service professionals.
The increase in the number of slums however has also resulted in the creation of differences between the persons who are residing in the urbanized villages of the constituency.
Most of the residents voiced their anger that while they are subjected to house tax and other forms of expenses none of these costs were applicable to those living in slums.
"There should be a level playing field. Today you see that a person in slums is able to develop structures and put it on rent as there are no regulation on the other hand the resident in the slum cannot add the structure as it costs him a lot of money," said Virendra Tokas, resident of Munirka.