Forced Evictions

forced-evictions

Forced evictions are on the rise in several parts of India. Most development projects, at face value, seem aimed at improving the lives of people: a new dam will generate more electricity to power industry; a new shopping mall will create new businesses and therefore more jobs.

However, the reality for communities living near a project is often quite different. These projects often about result in destruction of communities, the loss of jobs, and the impoverishment of people. Each year an estimated 15 million people across the globe are forcibly uprooted from their homes, farmlands, fishing areas and forests to make way for dam reservoirs, irrigation projects, mines, plantations, highways, and tourist resorts. Urban slums are bulldozed to make way for luxury condominiums, sporting facilities and shopping centres. Human rights abuses do not end after a forced eviction. A community may not be formally resettled and often find themselves living without adequate housing and without access to water, work, schools and hospitals. A forced eviction exacerbates poverty, social unrest, environmental degradation and loss of cultural identity.  

Often, society accepts this collateral damage as the price the nation must pay for development. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way: it is possible to both safeguard people’s rights while also experiencing economic growth.

Patna Police Forcefully Evicts People To Secure Space for Patna Metro

 
/ February 3, 2022

Hundreds of people lost their homes overnight in Bihar's Patna. Will they ever get justice?

Tribals from Madhya Pradesh Forcefully Evicted

 
/ December 1, 2021

54 families, who have been living in forests for generations, were forcefully removed overnight.

18 Check Posts, 600 Police Personnel to Manage A Public Hearing of 200 People?

 
/ November 11, 2021

An illegal public hearing comprising of handpicked villagers was organised in Rayagada district of Odisha in Oct 2021.

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On PM’s Birthday, Villages in MP Submerged After Sardar Sarovar Dam Reaches Maximum Capacity

 
/ December 16, 2019

People have drowned, starved, and died, but nobody is talking about rehabilitation plans. Why? Sardar Sarovar Dam was fully filled before schedule for Prime Minister’s 69th birthday, resulting in hundreds of villages and hectors of land under water. Thousand of families, faced displacement, and loss of livelihood.    

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Families of Ghatkopar Rehabilitated to Mumbai’s ‘Human Dumping Ground’

 
/ March 19, 2019

Residents of the Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area were forced to relocate to Mahul, having hazardous living conditions and bad air quality.

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Families Evicted for Hockey World Cup Venue Beautification yet to be Rehabilitated

 
/ January 8, 2019

While the Hockey World Cup 2018 was kicked off with aplomb, 2000 people evicted for the expansion of its venue continue to live in deplorable conditions.

Sardar Sarovar Dam: A Spectre of Displacement and Human Rights Violation

 
/ November 8, 2018

Fourteen persons from two villages in Maharashtra rehabilitated; over a 100 families in the state are still waiting.

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Government Evicts Nomadic Communities in Jammu Without Notice or Rehabilitation

 
/ October 8, 2018

The Forest Right Act does not apply to Jammu & Kashmir, making nomadic communities in the state vulnerable to alienation, eviction and violence.