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.

Impact Story

Solving Land Rights Issues

 
/ December 29, 2022

16 families from Odisha's Sundergarh district were paying taxes for a piece of land allotted to them 22 years ago through government schemes. But in reality the land was allotted only on paper. They did not even know the location of the land for which they had been paying taxes...

Displaced locals request for rehabilitation and compensation

 
/ September 28, 2022

The dam at Kothida, Bharud Pura, Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh took just a year to get a crack. More than 11 surrounding villages are at risk now due to this leakage and residents are asked to vacate the area.

Livelihood at stake in Chatra

 
/ September 16, 2022

The matter is serious - in Jatrahi village under Sikid village council of Chatra Block, Chatra District of Jharkhand, 25 families of Bhuyan community were living for 70 years and they are asked to relocate.

Raigarh of Chattisgarh faces the wrath of Industrialization | Awaz ho Buland EP 12

 
/ June 7, 2022

In this Video, Community Correspondent Rajesh Gupta, from Raigarh, Capital of Chattisgarh, tells  us about the Resource Curse or Paradox of Plenty in his area.

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Displaced Tribal Families of Sundargarh Receives Hollow Assurance, No Relief Ensured so far

 
/ May 27, 2022

The villagers, whenever they raise their voices, were always pushed down and shooed away, the local police started harassing them, sometimes even arresting them on flimsy issues.

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Mumbai Witnessing Forced Evictions and Demolitions Repeatedly

 
/ May 20, 2022

The slum dwellers of Pestom Sagar Area, Chembur, Mumbai have developed some really thick resilience. Their slums have been tossed and toppled away so many times that their bitterness is turning to rage now.

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Disdain and the fear of Displacement in Uttar Pradesh

 
/ May 3, 2022

The weaving community settled there in Mau District, Uttar Pradesh but economic prosperity was not easy to come by.

Awaz Ho Buland: Nationwide Home Demolitions During Pandemic Times Is A Violation of Human Rights

 
/ February 3, 2022

Demolitions across 22 states have rendered more than 54,000 people homeless.