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While states across the world have encouraged millions to stay at home due to #COVID19, many communities still face the threat of being evicted. Here’s a #thread on #forcedevictions during #COVIDLockdown in India 1/9
Despite suggestions from the #UN and various courts across the country to halt all #evictions during #COVID19, many states continue to carry out eviction drives. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Housing/SR_housing_COVID-19_guidance_evictions.pdf 2/9
On April 24, 2020, the Forest Department in Odisha’s Kalahandi destroyed the homes of 32 tribal families in Nehla village, leaving them homeless. https://www.newsclick.in/Odisha-32-Tribal-Families-Kalahandi-Rendered-Homeless-Forest-Department-Lockdown 3/9
On April 19, 2020, at least 30 families in Telangana’s Siddipet district were evicted from their homes in the middle of the night without any prior notice, for the construction of the Anantagiri reservoir @CharanT16 https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/evicted-during-lockdown-telangana-villagers-forced-out-reservoir-project-123166 4/9
On March 21, 2020, many families from the Pardhi community were forcefully evicted by the police under the flyover on Western Express Highway in Mumbai. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/lockdown-in-mumbai-hungry-homeless-in-a-city-thats-fallen-asleep/articleshow/74785541.cms 5/9
What are forced evictions? 6/9
According to a 2019 report on Forced Evictions by @HLRN_India, at least 202,233 people were forcefully evicted from their homes/land in India in 2018 alone. 7/9
In most cases, the state does not inform people about why their houses are demolished, neither does it make the reason public. Read the report here: https://www.hlrn.org.in/documents/Forced_Evictions_2018.pdf 8/9
Here are the four broad categories for which people were forcibly evicted from their home/land. In many cases, the displaced are not resettled on the premise that they are not ‘legal’ residents. 9/9
Stay updated on forced evictions during Covid-19. We will keep adding to this thread as and when we come across more reports of forced eviction. Watch this space. Meanwhile...
On June 17, 2020, @HLRN_India released a report on forceful evictions during Covid-19, where it documented at least 22 cases affecting over 13,500 people. Read the report here: https://www.hlrn.org.in/documents/Press_Release_Evictions_COVID19_June_2020.pdf
Three cases from the @HLRN_India report are described in detail in this story by @mridulachari and @nihargokhale, published in @Article14live https://www.article-14.com/post/under-cover-of-covid-india-s-poor-lose-their-homes
The three cases include evictions that took place in Odisha’s Kalahandi and Telangana’s Siddipet districts, and a third case in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, where homes along the Ratahara lake were demolished without prior notice https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/mp-shanties-near-pond-removed-amid-lockdown-congbjp-fight/1829358
On April 6, 2020, Gujarat’s forest officials allegedly torched huts and fields of forest dwellers in Dang district https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/environment/amp/covid-19-gujarat-forest-dept-officials-allegedly-torched-huts-fields-70426
On May 4, Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd began to survey and fence off land it had acquired in the 1960s in Kevadiya. On May 1, the Gujarat HC had dismissed a PIL to protect people from eviction, stating it was filed by a third party who had no stake in the case https://indianexpress.com/article/india/gujarat-hc-dismisses-pil-for-tribals-land-near-statue-of-unity-6390124/
On June 8, government authorities forced some families in Delhi’s Shakur Basti to demolish their own homes https://twitter.com/HLRN_India/status/1275036838923653122
