From Safety to Precarity
Century-Old Farming Families Along Delhi’s Yamuna Watch Their Rs.50,000 Monthly Incomes Shrink to Rs.300 a Day as Demolitions Force them into Street Vending and odd jobs
Every morning, Kamal Singh sets up his tea stall along Delhi’s Yamuna floodplains, an area that has been the heart of his family’s agricultural life for over a century. At 50, Singh, like thousands of farmers in the region, now faces the painful reality of eviction by the Delhi government from the land they once harvested and called home.
My mother, father, grandfather—we’ve been here for over 100 years,” he said.
This region has been a historical part of Delhi’s agrarian belt which was originally a riverine forest back in the Mughal era and British rule, and in 1948 it was leased out to them for a period of ninety-nine years according to a South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People 2020 report.
The Yamuna floodplains evictions stem from Delhi’s dual ambitions of urban expansion and environmental conservation. Since 2006, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has led demolitions to reclaim the floodplains for biodiversity parks and infrastructure. In March 2023, these demolition drives intensified with the preparations for the G20 summit, which saw Delhi’s authorities accelerate their urban renewal projects, leading to even more regular evictions, according to people familiar with the matter. The affected communities are primarily small-scale farmers who have cultivated these lands for generations, relying on fertile soil to sustain livelihoods.
Mohan Lal cultivated 10 acres of land till 2022 . “I would save Rs.1,000-2,000 everyday from my farming income,” he said. His income from agriculture allowed him a modest but stable life. Now, Mohanlal has been forced to sell kachoris from a small roadside stall, barely earning Rs.200-300 per day—hardly enough to sustain his family. The stark contrast in his income illustrates the economic vulnerability faced by displaced farmers.
Mohan, like many of his neighbors, had no choice but to shift from farming to an uncertain livelihood. The promise of compensation or rehabilitation never materialized. This forced farmers to work at depots earning Rs.9,000 monthly, and some others became hawkers, servants, daily wage labourers and delivered gas cylinders which are relatively lower-paying jobs.
The scale of displacement is vast. Agricultural land here has shrunk from 4,850 hectares in 2000 to 3,330 hectares in 2020, according to DDA reports. Of 9,350 households living in the area, 52% were farming families.
Ajay Saini’s situation mirrors Mohanlal’s. His family farmed 20 acres of land, earning Rs.30,000 to 40,000 monthly from crops like radish and mint, which were sold to local markets. In March 2023, however, their last wheat crop was destroyed during one of the frequent demolition drives that have plagued the region. After briefly working in a shop that sold light and sound equipment, Ajay now struggles to find any stable employment.
The displacement has a vast impact on their families as well. Gaura Devi, who now works as a maid servant to support her family, once grew fresh vegetables to feed them. Her teenage son had to quit school to find work after they lost their farm. Some family members now work in Daryaganj as daily wage labourers and others as hotel staff, she said. “They promised us housing, but gave us nothing,” she said, describing how they briefly stayed in a rented house before being forced to move again.
For many, the path to displacement began in 2006, when the DDA collected Rs. 15,000 from each family, promising plots or flats in return. “Some have bank drafts, some have cash receipts, to prove that we have been paying the DDA thousands of rupees to rehabilitate us since 2006” Singh said.
“Now the hope of rehabilitation seems very bleak to us farmers.”
The legal battle has been equally challenging. “Based on judgments like Sudama Singh & Others v. Government of Delhi & Others, addressing the rights of slum dwellers facing eviction without proper rehabilitation measures the right to shelter is fundamental,” said Umesh Singh, a lawyer at Socio Legal Information Centre, which provides pro bono legal support. “They cannot displace people without resettlement.”
The Sudama Singh case arose from the demolition of jhuggis (temporary huts) in various slum clusters in Delhi. The petitioners, representing slum dwellers, challenged the actions of the DDA regarding the demolition of their homes without providing adequate notice or alternative housing.
“While the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board’s 2015 policy mandates rehabilitation for pre-2006 slum residents, implementation remains selective,” he said.
Kamal Lal works as a private tutor now after he left farming two years ago due to forced displacement. Farmers’ displacement resulted in rising vegetable prices; produce that was once sold for Rs.2-10 per kilogram now costs Rs.40-70, he said.
The authorities cite environmental concerns and plans for biodiversity parks to justify the evictions; however, the SLIC lawyer disagrees.
“If you allow people to reside for decades, you can’t remove them without rehabilitation. Even after removal, there’s no development. The plan was just to remove them,” Umesh Singh said.
The demolitions continue monthly, despite court interventions. A recent stay order was lifted during the G20 summit in 2023. Legal help grows scarcer as lawyers demand lakhs of rupees for Supreme Court appearances, far beyond what these families can afford, said Rekha Rajput, an activist fighting for these farmers’ rights through various unions like the Annadata Kisan Union and Bhartiya Kisan Union.
For Shrichand, who once earned around Rs. Twenty-thousand monthly from the 12 acres of his land, spent the last three years watching his children scatter for work, one to Shastri Park, a neighbourhood located in North East Delhi, and another driving trucks for a beverage company. The demolitions didn’t just take their land; they scattered families built over generations.
There is a systematic exploitation faced by displaced farmers from the Yamuna floodplains, said a study by Zafar Tabrez, a researcher, published in the “International Journal of Development Research” (2024). These farmers often receive no compensation for crop losses caused during eviction drives. “The lack of access to essential services like housing, education, and healthcare leaves displaced families in extreme vulnerability,” wrote Tabrwz, a scholar specializing in urban displacement and socio-economic inequalities.
Delhi based political organisation, the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the capital after twenty-seven years. Its East Delhi District Vice President, Rajat Sharma said “,Being the central ruling party of India, we still can’t investigate and implement practical laws in such situations as the state leadership belongs to another political party.”
As Delhi pursues its vision of a cleaner Yamuna, the cost is measured in lost livelihoods and scattered communities. Each month brings new demolitions, pushing more farmers into uncertain jobs andtheir agricultural expertise replaced by the daily calculations of survival in the city’s margins.
Etcetera
