The East Delhi Municipal Corporation today distanced itself from Railways' demolition drive in Mansarovar Park that has left over 900 people homeless in the national capital, where the mercury dipped to a chilling 2.4 degrees this morning.
Reacting to reports of Railways having granted few crores of rupees to the then unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2003 for resettlement of people, a senior official of the EDMC today said the slum area now falls under Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) of the Delhi Government and "the ball is not in our court anymore".
MCD was trifurcated into three separate municipal bodies in 2011 -- North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).
"MCD was given a fund for the area in 2003. At that time the slums were under the MCD. Now it falls under DUSIB of the Delhi Government. And the funds are shifted along with the responsibility. So, the ball is not in our court anymore, but that of the DUSIB," the EDMC official said.
Senior officials at the DUSIB, when approached over telephone, refused to comment on the case.
About 150 families were rendered homeless after their makeshift hutments were demolished a day after Christmas by the railway alleging the colony was illegal.
And as authorities indulged in blame game, people continue to suffer in the biting cold with some women reportedly delivering babies in the open.
They have also been left to fend for themselves without proper shelter, food or clothing.
Reports also said that Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has asked DUSIB for immediate rehabilitation of slum dwellers displaced in the drive. Newly-elected chief minister Arvind Kejriwal too has assured of assistance to the displaced.
Manish Sisodia, who won from Parpatganj assembly constituency in East Delhi under which the area falls, is the PWD Minister under the new AAP government.
