Atishi claims security deployed at Kalkaji JJ cluster under demolition threat

 Former Delhi chief minister Atishi on Tuesday claimed that a large number of security personnel had been deployed in Bhoomiheen Camp in Kalkaji ahead of a demolition drive.

Eviction notices by the Delhi Development Authority have been pasted at houses in the jhuggi-jhopri camp, warning "encroachers" to leave the spot within three days, or face action.

The camp, where most residents are migrant workers, has seen demolition drives thrice in the last one year -- in May and June this year and July 2023.

"Tomorrow, the BJP is going to run bulldozers over the Bhoomiheen Camp. Today, the slum residents there were planning to protest, so the BJP government deployed thousands of police and CRPF personnel.

"Rekha Gupta ji: You had said that no slums would be demolished, right? Then why is such a massive police and CRPF force deployed?" the Aam Aadmi Party leader in a post on X in Hindi.

Gupta had on Sunday said the authorities cannot go against demolition orders issued by the courts and stressed that the displaced residents have been provided accommodation.

The remarks came amid criticism from the opposition AAP over the razing of the Madrasi Camp slum cluster near Barapullah in south Delhi, and similar demolition drives in other parts of the city.