Yamuna Khadar Residents Still Lack Basic Amenities as Another MCD Election Nears

The vast expanse of Yamuna Khadar, near the DND Flyway and Mayur Vihar, in East Delhi, is inhabited by thousands of poor labourers and farmers who have been staying without basic facilities for decades.

These people vote in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections but are devoid of water and electricity supply, schools, toilets or roads with several not getting ration despite having ration and Aadhaar cards. When their tents get submerged during Yamuna floods, they sit hungry and thirsty on the streets of Mayur Vihar.

Crops grown by several workers from Uttar Pradesh (UP), Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar in this area meet 10% of Delhi’s food requirement.

Yamuna Khadar falls in Delhi deputy chief minister (CM) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia’s Patparganj Assembly constituency and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Gautam Gambhir’s East Delhi Parliamentary constituency.

Newsclick’s team visited Yamuna Khadar and tried to know the basic issues of the inhabitants in the context of the December 4 MCD election and the agenda of BJP and AAP candidates in this area.  

Children devoid of education

“The right to education is a fundamental right but there are no schools for children in Yamuna Khadar,” says Satendra Pal, who has been staying in the area for years. “The residents don’t send their children, especially girls, to schools that are located many kilometres away, child theft and the fear of accidents on the adjacent highway.”

Satendra Pal mentions the lack of schools in the area.

Pal, who teaches children, requested the Central and Delhi government and the MCD to improve their future. “During elections, candidates promise lollipops to get our votes,” he alleged adding that “even after 75 years of Independence, we are bereft of essential facilities”.

Shivani, who bagged 86% marks in 10+2 and got admission to Agrasen College, wants more girls to study like her but says that “schools are located far away and it is impossible to study at night due to the lack of electricity”. Her father is worried about her education because of the yearly floods and the family’s poor financial state. Besides, children cannot focus on their studies while assisting their families in farming.

Shivani, who bagged 86% marks in 10+2 and got admission to Agrasen College, with her father.

Open defecation-free (ODF) is a lie

Savitri says neither there are toilets nor schools but politicians make big promises before elections. “We don’t even have potable water. We aren’t supplied ration despite being eligible.”

Savitri mentions the lack of toilets and potable water.

In October 2019, the Narendra Modi government declared the country open defecation-free (ODF) but there are many states and Union Territories, including Delhi, where people defecate in the open due to the lack of toilets. Located just a few kilometres away from the Parliament House and the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Yamuna Khadar has no toilets.

According to Reena and Bhootni Devi, of Khadar Chilla Fish Adda, it is “unsafe for women to defecate in the open”. “Children repeatedly fall ill because of the filth around and mosquitoes. We don’t even have clean drinking water. Before, every election, politicians make big promises and forget us after voting,” they say.

Located just a few kilometres away from the Parliament House and the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Yamuna Khadar has no toilets.

Lack of proper healthcare

Amarpal, who hails from UP and supports his family by farming, mentions the lack of water, seeds and pesticides. “The government refuses to help when floods destroy everything, including crops. Consequently, the burden of debt increases. We are left hungry and thirsty even at relief camps,” he says.

Amarpal says there is no government hospital in the area.

Mentioning the lack of healthcare, Amarpal says, “The residents take medicines for fever and cough prescribed by quacks. In case of major diseases, we have to consult private doctors or visit far-off government hospitals.”

Ujjwala Yojana just a dream

Rubina, who still cooks on an earthen stove despite the launch of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016, hasn’t received an LPG cylinder. She and her husband, who is a daily wager, find it extremely hard to feed their two children and his mother with no ration card.

Rubina still cooks on an earthen stove and never received an LPG cylinder despite the launch of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016.

The Modi government had launched the scheme with the slogan ‘Clean fuel, better life’ in Ballia, UP, and reaped its benefits in the 2017 UP Assembly election. But Yamuna Khadar tells a different story.

Blame game between Centre and Delhi

The AAP and the BJP blame each other for the pathetic condition of Yamuna Khadar despite contesting MCD elections on education, electricity, water, roads and toilets.

AAP’s candidate from this area Seema Praveenman tells Newsclick that despite ruling the MCD for the last 15 years, the “BJP did nothing to ensure electricity, water, education and health”. “These problems will be solved if AAP wins the MCD election,” she claims.

AAP’s candidate from this area Seema Praveenman says all the problems of Yamuna Khadar will be solved if the party winds the MCD election.

When questioned about AAP’s responsibility of ensuring water supply to every house, Praveenman says that the “[Arvind] Kejriwal government has tried to make several arrangements but the BJP government at the Centre and the MCD are creating obstacles. But Kejriwal continues with his efforts.” 

BJP’s candidate Renu Chowdhary was evasive when questioned about the lack of basic amenities and blamed the Kejriwal government. Describing the BJP as a better option than AAP, she claims, “PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s plans were beneficial for the public.”

When questioned about AAP’s responsibility of ensuring water supply to every house, Praveenman says that the “[Arvind] Kejriwal government has tried to make several arrangements but the BJP government at the Centre and the MCD are creating obstacles. But Kejriwal continues with his efforts.” 

BJP’s candidate Renu Chowdhary was evasive when questioned about the lack of basic amenities and blamed the Kejriwal government. Describing the BJP as a better option than AAP, she claims, “PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s plans were beneficial for the public.”

BJP’s candidate Renu Chowdhary was evasive when questioned about the lack of basic amenities.

According to experts, there are illegal constructions and slums in the area that have been razed often by bulldozers. Perhaps, this is the reason why the people here remain deprived of basic amenities. If this is the main reason for the problems, how these people got Voter ID and Aadhaar cards?

Translated by Amit Sheokhand from Hindi to English