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{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Yamuna Pushta
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name =
| nickname =
| settlement_type = [[neighbourhoods of Delhi|Neighborhood of Delhi]]
| image_skyline =
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| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = India New Delhi
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Delhi, India
| coordinates =
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Delhi]]
| subdivision_type2 =
| subdivision_name2 =
| subdivision_name3 = [[New Delhi]]
| established_title = 
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| unit_pref = Metric
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| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Hindi language|Hindi]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
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}}

'''Yamuna Pushta''' is the ''Pushta'' ([[Embankment (transportation)|embankment]]) on both sides of the [[Yamuna River]] in [[Delhi]], starting from the ITO bridge and up to the [[Salimgarh Fort]]. It has also been home to riverbed cultivators, and over 100,000 residents a string of [[slum]] colonies ([[shantytown]]) for some 40 years, mostly on the western banks, like those near the [[Nigambodh Ghat]] (cremation [[ghats]]) near [[Old Delhi]] and a few on the eastern banks like those near Sakarpur village in [[East Delhi]]. Many of these slums were being demolished in 2004, after court orders which were part of the beautification drive of the Government ahead of the [[2010 Commonwealth Games]] and for creating a "green belt".<ref>[http://www.yamunagentlyweeps.com/thecommunity.html community]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Yamuna Pushta: riverbed settlements |url=http://plan.architexturez.org/site/mpisg/riverbed/yamuna-pushta-riverbed-settlements |date=2006-07-23 |publisher=plan.architexturez.org }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=You Can't Bank By This River: Gods or foreign athletes can occupy Yamuna Pushta, but the poor? They just don't make the cut. |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?233141 |date=20 November 2006|publisher=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title= A site of contestation |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2215/stories/20050729002604200.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122072247/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2215/stories/20050729002604200.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=22 November 2007 |date= 16–29 July 2005 |volume=22 - Issue 15|publisher=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Tale of two cities: As slums in Delhi are being bulldozed to yield ground to parks, river-front promenades.. |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2004/05/30/stories/2004053000120200.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112030532/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2004/05/30/stories/2004053000120200.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=12 November 2010 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date= 30 May 2004 }}</ref>

==Delhi slums==
Delhi slums were developed by the migrant populations who could not afford land in the city, encroaching upon the riverbed. The Master Plan of the city described the area as "floodable". Hence, permanent structures were never built by the government. Early settlers bought land from local farmers, some reclaimed land which others encroached. Thus grew several ''jhuggi'' clusters on both side of the Yamuna river. With the Yamuna flooding each monsoon, the resident of many of lower lying slums were uprooted, taking refuge within the city. Yet year after year, these slums grew despite remaining outside the purview of urban development within city, and basic facilities remained minimal, and many stayed on because they developed into valuable vote banks. Another important reason for their development right up to the Nizamuddin bridge in recent years was the availability of work opportunities in the vicinity.<ref>{{cite book |title=Slumming India: a chronicle of slums and their saviours |last=Verma |first=Gita Dewan |year=2002 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn= 0-14-302875-8|page=89 |url=http://www.architexturez.net/doc/4192f2e9-73ae-a024-9d0c-7f45aa5f038d }}</ref><ref name=li>{{cite news |title= A lifeline ... under siege |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2005/11/06/stories/2005110600030100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606105514/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2005/11/06/stories/2005110600030100.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=6 June 2011 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=6 November 2005 }}</ref>

The first resettlement drive in Yamuna Pushta took place in 1967, and the residents of the slum near Jamuna Bazar near [[Nigambodh Ghat]] were settled in Welcome Colony in East Delhi, however with more migrants regularly pouring in, these slums kept on refilling. Then, the [[1982 Asian Games]] saw nearly a million migrant laborers coming in to construct games related infrastructure.<ref>{{cite book |title=Inside the transforming urban Asia: processes, policies and public actions|last=Mahadevia |first=Darshini |year=2008 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-8069-574-2 |page= 398|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdKvxlYzTFkC&q=Yamuna+Pushta&pg=PA398 }}</ref>

Then in the early 2000s, the government activated its plans for the {{convert|118|acre|km2|adj=on}} Games Village to house the 8,500 athletes and other sports persons visiting Delhi during the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and also started an ambitious project of restoring and beautifying the 22 km-long stretch of Yamuna floodplain.<ref name=li/> The [[Delhi High Court]] gave orders for demolition of the slums at Yamuna Pushta in May 2002, and in MCD had issued an eviction notice to the ''jhuggi'' (makeshift huts) dwellers on 12 January 2004 and at least 5,000 school-age children were to be affected by the drive. Slumdwellers had been asked to pay up Rs 7,000 per house as the residents offered to shift to resettlement colonies such as Holambi Kalan, Bawana, Narela and Madanpur Khadar, by the slum and Jhuggi Jhonpari Department of the [[Municipal Corporation of Delhi]] (MCD),<ref>{{cite news |title=Yamuna Pushta puts up a fight|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=73307 |publisher=[[Indian Express]] |date=15 January 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=DTC may ply special buses for Yamuna Pushta |url=http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/08/stories/2004050810330400.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040604191244/http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/08/stories/2004050810330400.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 June 2004 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=8 May 2004 |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> though most of them became homeless since they could not even afford these costs, and further the city had virtually no low-income housing that was affordable and legal.<ref name=li/>

The slums were eventually demolished in a drive that started March 2004, after the Election Commission gave its permission ahead of the [[Lok Sabha]] elections, and registration forms were issued to the residents.<ref>{{cite news |title= CAPITAL'S SEALING DRIVE: Whose Delhi Is It Anyway? -The Yamuna Pushta slums are demolished.. |url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main20.asp?filename=Ne100706Whose_Delhi.asp |publisher=[[Tehelka.com]] |date=7 October 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Yamuna Pushta demolition to begin today |url=http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/17/stories/2004031714220300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040728224753/http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/17/stories/2004031714220300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 July 2004 |date=17 March 2004 |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> In this drive 1,000 slum clusters from Gautampurui-I and Koyla Basti of Yamuna Pushta were demolished, in all more than 18,000 slum clusters from both sides of the Yamuna river.<ref>{{cite news |title=Process to relocate Yamuna Pushta slums begins |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/03/13/stories/2004031311310300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218040230/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/03/13/stories/2004031311310300.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=18 December 2007 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=13 March 2004 }}</ref> As later studied revealed, the income of most of resettled residents decreased by 50 percent.<ref>{{cite book |title=Planet of slums|last=Davis |first=Mike|year=2006 |publisher=Verso |isbn=1-84467-022-8 |page=100|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FToaDLPB2jAC&q=Yamuna+Pushta&pg=PA100 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=On the margins|author= Jayati Ghosh|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2514/stories/20080718251409500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080729004138/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2514/stories/20080718251409500.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=29 July 2008 |date= 5-18 July 2008 |publisher=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]] |volume= 25 - Issue 14 }}</ref>

Subsequently, an eight-lane express highway was opened there in 2007, paving the way for construction of the [[2010 Commonwealth Games]] Village and beautification drive of the Yamuna banks prior to it.<ref>{{cite news |title=Yamuna Pushta gets a new express highway |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/05/stories/2007060506620400.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107040746/http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/05/stories/2007060506620400.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 November 2012 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=5 June 2007 |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> By October 2009, nearly 400,000 people from three large slum clusters, of Yamuna Pushta, Nanglamachi and Bhatti mines had been relocated <ref>{{cite news |title=The economics of the Games: Most scholars see only negative economic benefits to hosting these events |url=http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/26205604/The-economics-of-the-Games.html?pg=1 |publisher=[[Live Mint]] |date=26 October 2009 }}</ref>

==Aftermath==
In 2006, a book ''Yamuna Gently Weeps: A Journey into the Yamuna Pushta Slum Demolitions'' was published about the demolition of Yamuna Pushta.,<ref>{{cite news |title=How easy to dispose of the poor |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061119/spectrum/book5.htm |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |date=19 November 2006 }}</ref> and a documentary film by the same name made by Ruzbeh N Bharucha was also released.<ref>{{cite news |title= 'Yamuna Gently Weeps': Demolition of the biggest slum in Delhi is the theme of the documentary.. |url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/07/05/stories/2007070550790100.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107040814/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/07/05/stories/2007070550790100.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 November 2012|work=[[The Hindu]] |date=5 July 2007 |location=Chennai, India}}</ref>

As of 2010, the area continues to be a home for numerous homeless people, out of the 1,00,000 homeless living on the streets of Delhi, where after cold deaths here, the revenue department put up tents in January 2010 <ref>{{cite news |title=A day-long search for promised land|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-01-22/delhi/28142368_1_night-shelter-terminus-ring-road |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811032949/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-01-22/delhi/28142368_1_night-shelter-terminus-ring-road |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 August 2011 |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=22 January 2010 |first1=Ambika |last1=Pandit}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rickshaw-puller dies on coldest day|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-01-09/delhi/28148277_1_bhima-naveen-rickshaw-puller |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811033006/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-01-09/delhi/28148277_1_bhima-naveen-rickshaw-puller |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 August 2011 |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=9 January 2010 |first1=Ambika |last1=Pandit}}</ref>

==Further reading==
* ''Yamuna gently weeps: a journey into the Yamuna Pushta slum demolitions''. by Ruzbeh N. Bharucha. Sainathann Communications, 2006. {{ISBN|81-903827-0-5}}.
* ''Swept off the Map: Surviving Eviction and Resettlement in Delhi'', by Kalyani Menon-Sen and Gautam Bhan; Yoda Press, 2008. {{ISBN|81-906186-1-X}}.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.yamunagentlyweeps.com/ Yamuna Pushta Gently Weeps, website]
* [http://www.hic-net.org/news.php?pid=112 In Delhi: 40,000 homes demolished so far (2004)]

{{coord|28.6589|77.24738|display=title}}

[[Category:History of Delhi]]
[[Category:Neighbourhoods in Delhi]]
[[Category:Slums in India]]
[[Category:Waterfronts]]
[[Category:Geography of Delhi]]
[[Category:Yamuna River]]

Yamuna Pushta - Revision history

->GreenC bot: Rescued 5 archive links; reformat 5 links. Wayback Medic 2.5