After a considerable gap, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has started demolition work in the Ellisbridge Kochrab Kaagdiwal area along the Sabarmati river bank.

This cluster has 600 hutments — home to about 3,000 families, and AMC has started its drive without giving notices. Few residents, who have been staying here for several years, said AMC told them that houses will be allotted only to those whose names are listed in the survey.

Vasant, a vegetable vendor, said: “The AMC teams come for the survey and give numbers to hutments. They have not done any survey in this pocket in the last five years. We have no survey numbers, no allotment letters and no promises of any alternative houses.”

The issue is sketchy in Kagdiwal as even the ones who have got survey numbers have no allotment letters after the demolition of their houses. Fatima Miyana’s house has survey no 166 and Rashida Sheikh has survey number 149. But their houses were demolished without providing them letters.

The hutment dwellers said that young leaders from political parties often collected money from them on behalf of AMC.

Shamshu Vaghri said: “They collect Rs 1,000 to 2,000, stating they are from a particular party and are working with AMC to give them permanent shelter. I have paid Rs 2,200 and several others have paid money too.”

In its last survey in 2008, AMC had claimed that only 4,000 families will be affected by the project. The Gujarat High Court then ordered AMC to rehabilitate 1,200 people in the first phase.

… contd.