Kolkata has its own Nandigrams

CRY documents the recent evictions in Bengal's capital</>

A recent report by CRY has revealed that industrialisation and urban development often does not take into account the children and adults who are subject to eviction.

Cases are aplenty with the Nandigram eviction drive being the most prominent.

According to Piu Sur, communications manager of CRY, "Evictions have been in the forefront and we decided to bring up the issue of evictions within Kolkata which has been overlooked."

The practice of forced eviction involves the involuntary removal of persons from their homes or land, directly or indirectly attributable to the State government. It entails the effective elimination of the possibility of an individual or group living in a particular house, residence or place, and the assisted (in the case of resettlement) or unassisted (without resettlement) movement of evicted persons or groups to other areas.

"In the present scenario, where the state-sponsored evictions are already being questioned on various aspects, this study will provide the important insight required to substantiate the perceived ill effects of such actions," claimed Sur.

The survey is also expected to bring to public attention the evictions in Kolkata and the violation of rights of children which have been completely unnoticed by all sections of society and media too.

In the wee hours of February 2, 2003, a 500-strong Rapid Action Force, accompanied by ambulances, fire brigades and two-three bulldozers, forcibly entered the Dalit community in Belilious Park of Howrah, across the Hooghly river and evicted over 700 families, demolishing hundreds of brick houses, a school building, temples and statues. The eviction was carried out without prior notice and in the absence of a resettlement plan.

According to reports, the Howrah municipality had launched a development and beautification scheme that includes extension of the park in favour of commercial interests. The Dalits residing in the Belilious Park area were not trespassers, as alluded, but permanent residents, pointed out CRY.

The Dalit community reportedly had been living there for around 100 years. The residents of the community produced supporting documents, such as identity cards, ration cards, service records, and birth and death certificates that the Howrah Municipal Authority had issued, specifying permanent addresses in 129 Bellilious Park.

However, the municipal authorities ignored these claims, and maintained that the residents were trespassers. Presently, there is an amusement park and Big Bazar on the evicted location.

According to the CRY report, after this eviction, these 700 families had to settle in the Belgachia garbage dump. They have been living on open streets with no shelter from the sun, no drinking water and no sanitary facilities. Till date, the West Bengal government has not provided any compensation to the victims and has failed to resettle those who are currently living in miserable conditions.

CRY observed that rains may further aggravate the already deteriorating conditions and there is every possibility of an epidemic. So far, four people have died. There is no government-run school in the area but there is a school run by an NGO where the dropout rate is very high.

Another case is that of the Rajarhat area, a block in North 24 Paraganas. Rajarhat, or New Town, is 6 kms from the Kolkata airport and around 3,55,000 poor were evicted to make way for big-ticket developers like Unitech, Shapoorji Pallonji, DLF and others who would set up luxurious housing complexes and shopping malls in the region.

Most of the displaced people are suffering due to loss of jobs because of distance and transport difficulties. There has been a massive rise in the school drop out rate. Some villages have an average dropout rate of up to 35 per cent, while four out of 10 children stopped going to school after mid-day meal scheme was stopped.

No sanitation facilities whatsoever are available and people and children have to go to the ponds in various villages.