Facing a threat of eviction from their dwellings to make way for a National War Museum, the residents of the Princes' Park locality here have said they would move out willingly only if the government gives them bigger accommodation with better amenities.
Defence ministry has given the final nod to the plan for the proposed National War Museum at Princes' Park near India Gate here. It has said that the more than 300 families living on the 14-acre plot of land there would need to be removed to go ahead with the construction.
Although it was said that the people living at Princes' Park have been offered alternative land in Delhi Cantt and nearby areas for building new dwellings, the families claimed they had received no such information.
"If we are offered land and not houses, then from where will we bring the money to build the houses? This isn't the first time that the government is trying to move us from the land. But, earlier, we were asked for our consent... We are yet to receive any information this time.
"Whatever might be the government's move, we want it to be positive for us," said Ramesh Kumar, vice president of the Residents' Welfare Society of Princes' Park.
"It's a question of the future of more than 300 families. We will only move if the replacement residence is better than what we have now. They can't force their decision on us. We'll approach the court if they do. They will have to seek our consent; there are certain provisions which they will have to abide by," Kumar added.
The locality consists of over 300 families living in more than 200 tin-roofed dwellings. Most of the breadwinners in these families work as ice-cream vendors, autorickshaw drivers, labourers and domestic helps.
Servants' quarters were built at Princes' Park in the pre- Independence era and these families have been living there ever since. The site is historic, too, as the Indian national flag was for the first time raised there after Independence.
Defence Ministry is now preparing a Cabinet note regarding the proposed war memorial in the India Gate complex and the National War Museum here at a cost of Rs 400 crore.
The need for removing encroachments before commencement of construction at the site will also be mentioned in the note, officials said.
