The Housing and Land Rights Network’s alarming findings shed light on a national eviction crisis, urging immediate action and policy reforms to protect vulnerable communities.
New Delhi– The Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) has released a damning report revealing the staggering scale of forced evictions across India over the last two years. According to the report titled “Forced Evictions in India,” spanning from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023, authorities at central, state, and local levels have demolished more than 1.5 lakh houses, resulting in the forced displacement of over 4.7 lakh people from their homes.
The report highlights a distressing trend, indicating that an average of 294 houses were destroyed every day, with 58 people being displaced every hour in 2023 alone. This unprecedented pace and intensity of demolitions have led to the forced displacement of at least 5,15,752 individuals nationwide, marking the highest number in the past seven years since HLRN began publishing such reports.
These figures, while alarming, are considered a conservative estimate by HLRN, reflecting only the cases known to the organization. Many evictions were carried out under the pretext of measures like slum clearance, removal of encroachments, and urban beautification drives, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities.
Delving into regional disparities, the report identifies the National Capital Region of Delhi as the epicenter of eviction crisis, recording the highest number of evictions in 2022 and 2023. In 2023 alone, approximately 8.2 lakh individuals were forcibly evicted by various state authorities in Delhi, surpassing any other region in India.
Furthermore, judicial orders, including those from the Supreme Court of India, state high courts, and the National Green Tribunal, contributed to the eviction crisis, with over 9.2 million people being displaced in 2022 and 2023 combined. Shockingly, around 31 percent of the victims hailed from historically disadvantaged groups, such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Gypsy Mihajir Mazdoor, and religious minorities.
HLRN’s report also underscores that approximately 17 million people across India are currently living under the constant threat of eviction and homelessness due to various reasons.
In response to these distressing findings, HLRN has proposed several recommendations, including an immediate moratorium on all evictions, the regularization of illegal settlements through cluster housing, and the removal of these settlements from illegal and encroachment lists, which often serve as pretexts for forced evictions.
As the nation grapples with the ramifications of this eviction crisis, urgent action and policy reforms are imperative to safeguard the rights and dignity of vulnerable communities facing the threat of displacement.
The report serves as a clarion call for concerted efforts from policymakers, civil society, and the public to address this pressing humanitarian issue and ensure the protection of housing and land rights for all citizens across India.