JJ colonies in RK Puram continue to attract large number of tenants

NEW DELHI: Situated along sectors 3 and 4 are the Ravi Dass Camp where four of the six rapists of Nirbhaya resided and a place where the family still lives. The total population of the cluster colony is estimated to be over 1000 persons.

Interestingly, in a colony where the accommodation is for only 300 families over the years the population of the colony has grown due to a large number of tenants coming and residing in the area.

Despite living in extremely small rooms, the large demand for tenants in the area is resulting in one single room being charged between Rs 3000 to Rs 4000.

“I am from Madhya Pradesh and I work as a lab boy in one of the public hospitals in the city. I have been staying at one of the tents in the room for over a year. No one wants to reside in the slums but to live in a metropolis like Delhi the budget also needs to be taken care of. Even though the rooms are small, the cleanliness levels are much better than what I expected,” said Suraj.

Not only at Ravi Dass camp but the huge demand for rented rooms continue to be prevalent in other cluster colonies as well. This is despite the fact that the colonies are still illegal. Most of the residents in the shanties have expressed hope that the recent decision of regularising the colonies if implemented well will take out the fear among the tenants who choose to stay in slums with fewer options available.

It is important to note that even as the RK Puram Vidhan Sabha the constituency has the residence of a large number of bureaucrats and ultra-rich citizens there are also a substantial number of slums.

They also form a significant vote bank for the parties which continue to campaign aggressively about their schemes in these colonies.

Most of the shanties have existed in the area for 30 to 40 years. The growth of population in these slums over the years have resulted in a large scale diversity among people in the form of communities as well as professions like vendors, drivers to even service professionals.

The increase in the number of slums however has also resulted in the creation of differences between the persons who are residing in the urbanized villages of the constituency.

Most of the residents voiced their anger that while they are subjected to house tax and other forms of expenses none of these costs were applicable to those living in slums.

“There should be a level playing field. Today you see that a person in slums is able to develop structures and put it on rent as there are no regulation on the other hand the resident in the slum cannot add the structure as it costs him a lot of money,” said Virendra Tokas, resident of Munirka.

NEW DELHI: Four men, involved in more than 30 cases of highway robberies in Delhincr and adjoining states, have been arrested from Dhaula Kuan, police said on Monday.

The accused, Raju (40), Rinku (32), Anand Soni (28) and Lalit Tyagi (30), who were staying on rent inc, used to travel to Delhi to commit the robberies, they said.

With their arrests, more than 10 robbery cases have been solved in the national capital, police said.

A trap was laid on Ring Road, Dhaula Kuan on January 31 after police received information that Raju along with his gang members would come there. All the four men were overpowered and apprehended from the spot, they said.

Two single shot pistols along with seven live cartridges and a car used in the commission of crime was also recovered, police said.

"During interrogation, it was revealed that they committed robberies at gunpoint by luring passengers to sit in their car on the pretext of dropping them at their destination. Raju used to drive, while his associates sat in the car posing as passengers," P S Kushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), said. They used to commit late night robberies or in the wee hours of morning. On the way, they would rob the victims of their cash, jewellery and other valuables at gunpoint before dumping them at isolated places, he said.

Raju is previously involved in more than six cases of robbery, while Rinku was arrested in over eight such cases, Kushwah added.