A fresh face-off between the Delhi government and the Centre erupted today over demolition of a slum cluster by railways to clear "encroachments" and death of a baby at the site here, evoking angry protest from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who wanted murder case to be filed.
The demolition of 1200 slum units at Shakur Basti in West Delhi was carried out yesterday, with the railways saying the action was necessary for expanding the infrastructure.
The railways said the demolition was carried out after three notices, the first one with the March 14, 2015 deadline.
A six-month-old baby died in one of the slum units, which the railways insisted had "nothing to do with removal of encroachments", claiming that it occurred two hours before the demolition started at 12 pm.
Police said prima facie the baby died due to suffocation after a heap of clothes fell on it when the parents were preparing to clear out of the jhuggi and hence no case was registered.
Kejriwal, while slamming the railways, suspended two Sub-Divisional Magistrates and another senior official for "failing to arrange" food and shelter for those evicted.
As the controversy broke out, Delhi Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Arun Arora told a press conference here that encroachments had become a "risk" for train operations as the slums were within the 15-metre of safety zone.
He said the National Green Tribunal had also ordered that the tracks should be cleared of solid waste and to ensure this the railways had to "remove the source".
Arora said the slum dwellers were given first notice for vacating the land by March 14, 2015. However, the demolition could not be undertaken then because police could not provide assistance then, Arora said.
Subsequently, two more notices were given to them -- one with the deadline of September 30,2015 and the last one with the deadline of December 12,2015 (yesterday), he said.
Kejriwal, who visited the site late last night, slammed the railways for undertaking the demolition drive at a time when the temperature saw a sharp drop. He ordered officials to immediately provide blankets and food to those who were rendered homeless following the drive.
Talking to reporters, he said, "A child has died here. It is a very sad thing and I think that a murder case should be registered against the officers. Compensation will be taken from them. It should be deducted from the salaries of the officers who have conducted these raids."
In the evening, senior railway officials, Northern Railway General Manager A K Puthia and Delhi Divisional Railway Manager Arun Arora, met him to explain why the slum cluster was demolished but the "difference of opinion" persisted between the two sides.
Delhi government sources said the "CM was not happy with the Railway officials' response and he would take up the matter with Railway Minister (Suresh Prabhu).
