Livelihood, low rent forced daily wagers into deathtrap
The death of 67 people in the Lalita Park building collapse incident is a grim reminder of how the families uprooted from the Yamuna pushta for rehabilitation were forced to live in dungeon-like houses in localities. Livelihood and low rent forced them to risk their lives in the buildings, no less than deathtraps, allegedly “specifically built” for them.
Ranjit, whose village-mate Minoti was looking for her two children feared dead, said: “We come from West Bengal and Bihar to earn money. We can’t afford to go all the way to Savda Ghevra where the government wanted us to shift after it removed Yamuna pushta jhuggies. If we go there, we can’t earn. So, we had to stay in such buildings and share the rent to keep the expenses low.” The story of Minoti, her aunt Sushan, Bablu Sarkar, is the same.
“Such houses are now a common sight in Mandawali, Ganesh Nagar, Shakarpur, Khurenji,” said Sarkar, adding that almost all the houses follow the same pattern.
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