At debris of their demolished homes, Delhi schoolchildren pick up the pieces

On Tuesday afternoon after school, class 5 student Arfan fished out a black plastic cricket bat from underneath the debris of homes that were demolished nearly two months back. Still wearing the green jacket-grey trousers uniform of Delhi Public School (DPS) Mathura Road, he swung it around, trying to hit some of the broken bricks and tiles.
The partly broken bat, said Arfan, possibly belongs to a neighbour whose demolished home is near the rubble of his own residence. Both houses were among nearly 300 structures next to DPS Mathura Road that were pulled down in an “encroachment” removal exercise ordered by the Land and Development Office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on November 21.
The demolition followed a Delhi High Court order, which held that the slum cluster did not exist before January 1, 2006, and was, therefore, not protected under existing rules. The Central Public Works Department and Municipal Corporation of Delhi were ordered to provide the machinery for the exercise. The demolition was part of other similar drives across Delhi, including in Trilokpuri, Khajoori Khas, Narela, Aya Nagar, Green Park and Sadar Bazar.
Among the things lost in the rubble were some of his term books, said Arfan, whose father is a car mechanic. “A friend in school helps me out now.”
I loved even more than you will get done right here. The overall look is nice, and the writing is stylish, but there’s something off about the way you write that makes me think that you should be careful what you say next. I will definitely be back again and again if you protect this hike.
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.