New Delhi: It was the last wedding at Delhi’s Air India Colony – where the residents had been fighting a two-year battle in the Delhi High Court against eviction. The lights were bright purple, the flowers were white and yellow and the chandeliers were grand and golden. It was Arushi and Sachin’s wedding a year ago, and over 500 guests came.
Those were the good times. But the guests knew it was short-lived. Air India is now a Tata-owned private company and that would change everything. This week, the high court ruled that after the privatisation, the employees of Air India Limited are no longer government employees and they do not have a valid right to live in government accommodation. Everybody, including pilots, engineers and ground staff, have to leave by 31 July.
In the good times, around 800 families lived on this prime government-owned land in South Delhi. Around 600 families left in the last 1.5 years.
Sixty-seven families, who continue to be employees of Air India after the privatisation in January 2022, moved court in July pleading that they be allowed to stay on or relocate to a nearby land. It was a question of legacy. When the court didn’t budge, the families asked for more time on the pretext of not disrupting the board exams’ preparation of their children.
In this once-bustling neighbourhood, which was built in the late 1970s, everybody was connected to the Maharaja Airlines and it was like a large family under a benign turbaned and moustached patriarch. Diwali, Christmas, Holi and Dussehra brought residents and employees of different hierarchies together in the neighbourhood park; Ramlila inside was one of the famous Ramlilas of South Delhi; children went to the same school and their marks would often be compared in the Air India office the next day by their parents; some families even had three generations of employees with the airlines.
But now, this colony has turned into a ghost town. Residents pass each other and ask when they are packing up and moving out.
Air India has housing colonies in Delhi and Mumbai in which thousands of people live. When the Air India Limited was disinvested, the PSU’s non-core assets, such as land and building, were moved to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) under the Ministry of Urban Affairs.
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What’s left are memories, legacy
Until 15 March, a big board of Air India Housing Colony was installed at the gate with a sign Aapka Dil Se Swagat Hai — or a hearty welcome — almost like the greeting for passengers to enter the plane. But this board was removed and CPWD installed a new board. Now it says: This land belongs to the Government of India. Trespassers will be prosecuted.
Houses were allotted to the people according to their post in Air India. However, since 2020, no new resident has moved in here. Now locks hang outside many homes, and windows appear as if they are held together by cobwebs.
Ram Janam Prasad, 70, retired long ago from Air India and his family shifted to Vasant Kunj in January this year. But his account is running in the post office inside the colony, due to which he had to come here on Mondays. As soon as he entered the colony, the memories of living here for decades rushed in. The old neighbours and the sweeper greet him.
“People used to live in this house until a few months ago. Now it is in ruins. The entire colony will be empty in a few days,” said Prasad, pointing to a house.
27-year-old Neha spent her childhood in this colony. On Monday, as soon as her car stops outside the house, her dog runs towards her. The parrot in her house starts making sounds. Disappointment is clearly visible on Neha’s face, but she proudly says that Bollywood actress Tripti Dimri (of Bulbbul and Qala fame) also lived here they used to play together.
“There is greenery all around here. Such a place will not be found anywhere else,” she said.
Describing an incident from Sunday, Neha says the people who have left their homes here have bought big houses but are not getting the same environment. “For us, this colony was like a community. Office to home, all know each other,” she said.
This colony has all kinds of facilities available in a government housing society. Kendriya Bhandar, post office, MCD schools, big parks, seating space for senior citizens, and shops. The post office and parks are deserted, the market and community centre inside the campus are closed.
The family of 50-year-old Krishna has been ironing clothes in the colony for the last 30 years, but now their days are sleepy.
“Only a handful of people are left here. Our earnings have come down to nothing. We barely earn Rs 100-150,” said Krishna.
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Making it difficult to stay
In October 2022, water supply was cut in the colony, and the lift operators were withdrawn by the government. A member of the current Residents Welfare Association (RWA), which is not registered, said basic facilities were closed so that people are forced to leave their homes on their own.
“The colony was being maintained with our HRA money. This happens in every government colony. After October, the money went to the government but the maintenance was stopped,” he said. The families currently living in the colony have hired eight people to sweep at their own expense, and lift and pump operators have also been hired.
At the same time, many families living here said that the salary of the employees is also being deducted by Tata Air India because they were still on government land. “Despite the matter being in the court, salary cuts were happening,” said a member of the RWA.
Another woman said that the company is pressuring them to accept the voluntary retirement scheme.
ThePrint reached Air India for comment regarding the colony and VRS but they declined. “Air India won’t be able to comment on this right now,” a spokesperson said.
But even after the last resident leaves, there will still be a lot of legacy left.
“MCD school, post office and Kendriya Bhandar will be here,” said Raju, one of the workers at Kendriya Bhandar.
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The last battle was the lost battle
The people living in Air India colony have fought till their last breath to stay here. The first notice to vacate the colony came on 29 October 2021 and then on 23 May, telling residents to leave by 26 July 2022. But people demanded from the government that they be allowed to stay for one year after the sale of Air India, which ended on 27 January 2023.
It has been written in the court order that on 9 March 2023, the petitioners gave an affidavit saying that out of 146 occupants, 54 have already vacated the place, while 66 occupants will vacate by 31 July. At the same time, 38 occupants will vacate the place within a month of monetisation of this land.
“These 38 families say that instead of evicting people from here, the government should give them land right here at a standard rate,” said an RWA member. But the court rejected this argument.
“The various occupants of Air India Colony, Vasant Vihar, thus, cannot be said to have any vested right to continue their occupation. The quarters at Air India Colony, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, as noted above, is situated on land belonging to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,” the court order reads.
There are still four months to go and the people living here still have some hope left. “The order has just come. We are looking into the legal option,” the RWA member said.
The last time almost everybody got together was at Arushi and Sachin’s wedding. Even the tent house owner and caterer recalls the event wistfully.
“When we were doing the work of decoration and catering, we knew that this colony was being evacuated. Some families had already left,” said Ram Babu Chaudhry.
Their wedding got a larger venue than the usual community centre – the children’s playground was offered. Nobody objected. There was music. It was the last time the residents danced together.