“Where do we go now?”: The end of a unique community in Delhi

For working class migrants from Tamil Nadu, if there was one place in Delhi that felt like home away from home, it was Madrasi Camp. Residents of the slum cluster claimed it had sprung up more than half a century ago.

“My parents got married here. I was born here,” said Gopal, a 42-year-old man who works as a driver.

But the neighbourhood came under threat in May as Delhi High Court directed the government to clear all structures impeding the flow of a natural drain called Barapullah. Madrasi Camp was built along this drain.

As a legally recognised slum, its residents could only be moved out after they had been provided alternative homes. The government allotted homes but only to 189 families – less than half the total number of families living in Madrasi Camp – and that too, 50 km away.

“After living here for my entire life, you’re suddenly asking us to leave,” Gopal said. “Where do we go now?”

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