Women Protest Corporation Order To Dump Garbage At Delhi Slum

After the recent landslide at Ghazipur dumping ground, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has chosen a north west Delhi slum as its next target. But the locals of Rani Khera are not happy with this idea. Women of the area have started a protest against the MCD not to let them dump garbage there. The angry crowd is not allowing garbage trucks to enter the area since Sunday.

MCD chose Rani Khera as the “temporary” dumping ground after they issued orders to shut down Ghazipur and Bhalswa dumpyards.

Now, the protesters are staging an indefinite protest there. The women comprise Jats who live in nearby villages as well as Purvanchali migrants who have settled in the colonies. Many of the protesting women have stopped cooking or sending their children to school.

A total number of 200 women came together on the site last week. One Krishna Devi, in her 70s, said, “Yeh Raniyon ka khera hai. Hum yahan ki raniyan hain. Till we are alive, nobody can make this a dumping ground,” Indian Express reported.

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“We have been sitting here since Sunday (Sept 3). I go home for four hours in the afternoon to finish cooking and feeding animals, and then come back. We all sit here overnight, singing bhajans and kirtans to keep ourselves awake. We are not afraid of anything,” she added.

“Government tells us so much about Swachh Bharat; are we not part of this Bharat?” asked another Rani Khera resident Phool Kumar Chaudhary

Another protester, Vimal Devi, who has eight grandchildren, said that all of them have stopped going to school since Monday (Sept 4).

She said, “My whole family is sitting here. This dharna is the most important thing right now. If this becomes a dumping site, the children’s future will be ruined.”

It is said that the Purvanchali migrants are the most affected by the MCD's step. A lot of these migrants are residents of Yogiraj Puram colony, which is just 200 metres from the Rani Khera dumping ground.

“It affects us the most as our house is barely 200 metres away. I want to ask (Delhi BJP chief) Manoj Tiwari, what are you doing for your Purvanchali people?” said Savita, who is originally from Chhapra in Bihar.

“Government tells us so much about Swachh Bharat; are we not part of this Bharat?” asked another resident, Phool Kumar Chaudhary, also from Bihar.

Picture credit- Clipart Panda