'Beggars Swept Off Delhi Streets For Games'
The eyes of the world are on Delhi as it gears up to host the Commonwealth Games and activists fear poor people are being forced to leave because they send out the wrong image.
Shanty towns across the city have been razed to the ground. Some are deemed too close to venues while others have been demolished to make way for car parks and road improvement schemes.
Shivani Chaudry from the Housing And Land Rights Network said: "Mega events like the Commonwealth Games act as powerful symbols for city's vying for the global tag.
"But to host these events cities require extensive stretches of land in prime locations. Clearing these causes significant displacement of poor communities."
Sri Ram lived with his family in a poor settlement which had stood on the banks of a canal near the Nehhru Stadium for over 35 years.
Then suddenly the bulldozers were ordered in and in just a few hours hundreds of homes were reduced to rubble.
A multi-story car park now stands on the site.
The residents say they were offered no alternative housing or compensation.
Ram, a 46-year-old street vendor, said: "For us the Commonwealth Games mean nothing. They have destroyed our homes and livelihoods.
"The bulldozers came in one day and we had no time to even salvage our belongings. They just attacked us and destroyed everything.
"I will have to rebuild my life. We just want these games to be over so we can carry on with our lives."
The eyes of the world are on Delhi as it gears up to host the Commonwealth Games and activists fear poor people are being forced to leave because they send out the wrong image.
Shanty towns across the city have been razed to the ground. Some are deemed too close to venues while others have been demolished to make way for car parks and road improvement schemes.
Shivani Chaudry from the Housing And Land Rights Network said: "Mega events like the Commonwealth Games act as powerful symbols for city's vying for the global tag.
"But to host these events cities require extensive stretches of land in prime locations. Clearing these causes significant displacement of poor communities."
Sri Ram lived with his family in a poor settlement which had stood on the banks of a canal near the Nehhru Stadium for over 35 years.
Then suddenly the bulldozers were ordered in and in just a few hours hundreds of homes were reduced to rubble.
A multi-story car park now stands on the site.
The residents say they were offered no alternative housing or compensation.
Ram, a 46-year-old street vendor, said: "For us the Commonwealth Games mean nothing. They have destroyed our homes and livelihoods.
"The bulldozers came in one day and we had no time to even salvage our belongings. They just attacked us and destroyed everything.
"I will have to rebuild my life. We just want these games to be over so we can carry on with our lives."
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