Faridabad’s Nehru Colony Faces Mass Demolition Drive for Rapid Corridor Project, Over One Lakh Residents Fear Displacement
Municipal authorities raze decades-old homes in drive to clear land for the ₹15,000 crore Namo Bharat RRTS corridor, leaving residents without power, water or alternative shelter
By NewsArc Bureau
Faridabad’s Nehru Colony, home to more than one lakh residents, is on the edge of a humanitarian crisis as the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) has launched a sweeping demolition drive, issuing notices to vacate homes it has declared illegal — all to make way for the proposed Gurugram-Faridabad-Noida Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) corridor.
The demolition push follows the recent razing of a temple and a mosque in the area. Authorities have now moved into the colony itself, cutting off electricity and water connections at several locations as a pressure tactic. Over 8,000 homes are in the crosshairs of the drive.
Families Pack Up, But Have Nowhere to Go
Residents who have lived here for 40 to 50 years say they have received evacuation orders but no alternative accommodation. Many have loaded their belongings onto trucks and shifted elsewhere, while others sit outside their homes through the night, unwilling — or unable — to leave.
Hemraj, a 45-year resident, described the ordeal as a life suspended between living and dying. He noted that children have stopped going to school and adults have abandoned work, paralysed by uncertainty.
Shivkumar, who was born in the colony and whose father has lived there for half a century, said he possesses all government-issued documents — including a voter ID registered at this address — yet his home is being demolished without any resettlement plan being offered.
A 70-year-old woman, widowed in this very home, said the nights now feel like a prolonged period of mourning. “Just as people keep vigil after a death, we sit awake through the night,” she said, adding that rental accommodation in the city is nearly impossible to find.
The Colony’s History
Nehru Colony traces its roots to 1975–76, when roughly 20 families from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan pitched tents on the hillside. With no municipal body in existence at the time and little administrative oversight, the settlement grew steadily over five decades into a colony of approximately one lakh people.
Even after the MCF was constituted in 1994–95, no serious effort was made to address the encroachments. Residents eventually obtained electricity connections through local political contacts, and around four years ago, a survey agency commissioned by the MCF created nearly 1,000 property IDs for the colony — despite most residents having no ownership documents. Those IDs were later removed from the corporation’s portal after questions were raised about their validity.
The Project Behind the Demolitions
The demolitions are linked to the proposed Namo Bharat RRTS corridor, a ₹15,000 crore project spanning approximately 61 kilometres. Trains on the corridor are envisaged to run at up to 160 kilometres per hour, connecting Gurugram, Faridabad and Noida, and providing access to Jewar Airport. The government has already approved the final alignment. Alongside the rail link, an elevated road is also planned for the same stretch. Officials say demolitions are currently being carried out within a 50-foot radius of the alignment, with further land acquisition to follow as construction progresses.
Administration’s Stand
MCF Commissioner Dhirendra Khadagta defended the action, stating that the drive targets all illegal encroachments on government land equally, with no discrimination on the basis of religion or community. “We are acting as per rules,” he said. “Wherever encroachment on government land has been found, it is being cleared.”
Residents, however, argue that decades of state complicity — through issued utility connections, property surveys and voter enrolments at this address — cannot simply be erased overnight without a resettlement plan.
