Titled ‘Forced Evictions in India: 2022 & 2023,’ the report by HLRN reveals that within this two-year span 1.5 lakh houses fell prey to demolition by state authorities at various levels – central, state, and local. This widespread demolition campaign, as detailed in the report, led to the forceful displacement of over 7.4 lakh people from their homes.
222,686 people were evicted in 2022, while 515,752 people were evicted in 2023. The report further details that India has over 4 million people living in homeless and more than 75 million people residing in ‘informal settlements’ in urban areas and details that the demolitions only make these figures worse.
In 2022, the report notes that on a daily basis 129 houses were demolished and 25 people were evicted from their houses every hour. Looking back, from 2017 to 2023, the report reveals that over 1.68 million people were forcibly evicted from their homes. However, the year 2023 saw an unprecedented rise in demolition with a chilling daily average of 294 houses being demolished while a staggering 58 people were evicted every single hour throughout the year. Against this backdrop, the report unveils a continuing reality that nearly 17 million people in India are currently living under the threat of eviction and displacement.
It is alarming that Delhi emerged as the city with the highest number of eviction incidents as it recorded a total of 78 incidents in 2023 with approximately 278,796 (2.8 lakh) people being forcefully evicted by various state authorities in Delhi marking the highest number of evictions in any location across India during that year. The major demolition drives were seen in places such as Tughlakabad in Delhi, Rama Pir No Tekro in Ahmedabad, and Faizabad – Naya Ghat in Ayodhya in 2023.
“During the demolition, a large contingent of around 200 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel and an equal number of Delhi police officers were stationed. Their presence barred us from accessing our possessions inside. To make matters worse, they confiscated the tin roofs we had, loading them onto a truck while the demolition was still in progress.” The report highlights a woman who was evicted from her home during an ‘encroachment removal drive’ tells the investigators in Nanakpura, Delhi in 2023.”
Interestingly, the report mentions that demolitions were not carried out with due process. An Amnesty International report too noted this this year while demolitions were rarely carried out by ensuring due processes are met, and existing Indian provisions for demolishing and evicting do not meet international human rights standards.
Furthermore, the HLRN report tells us that each incident catalogued by the organisation revealed multiple and serious human rights violations. The demolition drives, in many cases, show a higher level of brutality that has not been seen in the recent past.
Marginalised groups in each of these instances were the worst and most affected. According to available data, at least 36 % of the evictions in 2023 and 27 percent in 2022 affected people belonging to historically marginalised groups such as religious minorities, Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes.
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