Delhi Revives PPP Slum Policy While Kathputli Colony Residents Remain Displaced
On June 16, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the revival of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for slum redevelopment under the Delhi Slum and JJ Cluster Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy 2026, even as approximately 4,000 families displaced from Kathputli Colony in Shadipur continue to live in temporary transit housing at Anand Parbat.
The Kathputli Colony project was the first time the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) signed an in-situ slum rehabilitation agreement under a PPP model, partnering with private builder Raheja Developers. Between 2014 and 2017, residents were moved to porta cabins on a hillock in Anand Parbat, about three kilometers away, under what was supposed to be a temporary two-year arrangement.
Under the original agreement, the developer was to construct and hand over 2,800 Economically Weaker Section (EWS) flats on 60 percent of the 12.89-acre site to the DDA free of cost. In exchange, the developer received the remaining 40 percent of the land to construct commercial complexes and residential units to sell on the open market. Of the displaced families, 492 were allotted flats in Narela, while others were deemed ineligible.
More than a decade after the first displacements, residents remain stuck in the Anand Parbat transit camp. The camp faces severe civic issues, including open drains carrying human waste, mounds of garbage, and a reliance on water tankers because the tap water is unfit for consumption.
Residents are also trapped in a contractual bind. Under the terms of the project, if any family is found not residing at the transit camp during random inspections by the DDA or the developer, their names can be removed from the list of beneficiaries. This prevents them from moving out of the worn-out plywood and porta cabin structures.
The relocation has also devastated the livelihoods of the colony's traditional performers. Puppeteers and dhol players living in the camp reported that clients no longer know where to find them, severely reducing their work opportunities.
At the Shadipur construction site, work has been paused for nearly seven months. Several yellow EWS towers and a commercial complex remain incomplete. A site engineer stated that work was halted due to procedural hurdles, even after pollution-related restrictions were lifted. Neither the DDA nor Raheja Developers responded to requests for comment.
