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HomeIndiaGovernanceUttar Pradesh Dalit families left homeless by ‘mysterious fire’ start hunger strike

Uttar Pradesh Dalit families left homeless by ‘mysterious fire’ start hunger strike

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The families are struggling for food and water and have laid siege to the block development office seeking rehabilitation. They have also rejected the new site offered by the district administration.

New Delhi: As many as 120 Dalits affected by Monday’s fire at a settlement of the community in Allahabad district began a hunger strike Wednesday demanding new homes.

A fire from an “unknown source” had engulfed 20 homes inhabited by members of the Pasi community on a conflicted plot in Kaundhiyara village, Karchana tehsil, while the administration was carrying out a drive to demolish the “encroachments”. Though there were no casualties, the families, which comprise poor labourers and farmers, reportedly lost all their belongings, including foodgrain stocks.

Struggling for food and water since, the families Wednesday laid siege to the block development office for a sit-in seeking rehabilitation, having rejected the administration’s bid to shift them to a “tiny” plot “unfit for habitation”.

Among the demands raised at the sit-in are homes equipped with power and water connections, as well as the release of Kuldeep Bhartiya, who was arrested Monday for allegedly starting the fire. While the residents insist the cause of the fire remains unknown, police and the administration have said the source lay among the families.

The families who lost their homes in the fire stage a sit-in outside the block development office in Karchana, Allahabad, Wednesday | Dharmendra Tapaswi

‘Unfit alternative’

Earlier, on Tuesday evening, the residents had marched to the office of Karchana subdivisional magistrate Kuldev Singh, seeking relief. When Singh gave them the deed to a plot 500 metres from their earlier homes, the villagers refused to accept it.

Babloo Bhartiya, Kuldeep’s brother, alleged the plot was ridden with potholes. Eighteen of the 20 families, the residents added, had been assigned strips with an area of 40×7 square metres to build their homes.

SDM Singh acknowledged the land was in poor shape, but said the administration “will get it fixed”.

Talking to ThePrint while on his way to meet the protesters, Ajay Kumar, an MLA from the ruling BJP who represents Allahabad’s Bara town, said the families had been given land under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. When apprised of complaints about the land’s poor quality, Kumar said, “We will see to it and try to provide them with better land.”

Meanwhile, the families say they find themselves helpless, cast out of their homes without food or water in the cruel north Indian summer.

Sangeeta Bhartiya, who has a family of 25, told ThePrint, “We are parched, and haven’t consumed a single morsel since Monday. The loo is relentless, and we don’t have shelter. Our children only have the trees to seek shelter… No one comes to us to help.”

Kumar said he would meet the SDM to find a way to ensure the basic necessities of the families were taken care of until the rehabilitation process was complete.

For the long term, Kumar said “we will get a hand-pump installed on the land given to them.”

Among the demands raised at the sit-in is the release of Kuldeep Bhartiya, arrested for allegedly starting the fire | Dharmendra Tapaswi

The dispute

The land where the houses of the families stood was recorded as a pond under the panchayat’s ownership. In 2014, Ramchand Shukla, said to be a wealthy local, moved the Allahabad High Court with a PIL seeking the restoration of the dried-up pond. The residents allege that Shukla, who owns some land around the pond, had sights set on the plot where they resided too.

The court ruled in his favour, and issued instructions to the district administration to take action.

In 2015, the district administration offered to rehabilitate the Pasi community to another site, but the community protested against the move, arguing that the alternative offered, a piece of land allegedly ridden with potholes, was unfit for human habitation.

As a result, the district administration agreed to let the Pasi community stay on the pond plot, and decided to develop the alternative site as a pond. This was treated as a compliance of the high court order, and the administration dropped the demolition exercise.

However, Shukla again moved the Allahabad High Court, reportedly seeking that the original pond plot be vacated. Through 2017, the court repeatedly prodded the administration to free up the land, before finally setting a three-month deadline earlier this year that expired this month.

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