‘Govt lies’: AAP seeks protection for people affected by O-Zone demolitions in Delhi

2 min readNew DelhiJun 17, 2026 05:42 AM IST

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday launched a signature campaign demanding legal protection for residents living in unauthorised colonies in the O-Zone of Yamuna riverbanks in Delhi and urged the Centre to enact a law safeguarding them from demolition.

O-Zone is the ecologically sensitive area on the floodplains of the Yamuna river where construction is prohibited. More than five lakh people live in 91 unauthorised colonies in the O-Zone.

The Delhi High Court on May 23 had observed that residential colonies in the region are “completely impermissible”, while noting that 91 unauthorised colonies in the area continue to enjoy temporary protection from punitive action only until December 31 of this year.

Last week, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced that no demolition would be carried out on existing constructions in the colonies and maintained that the Delhi High Court’s concerns were related to only fresh or ongoing construction activity.

“Verbal promises of Rekha Gupta and this government mean nothing as they have a habit of lying. Despite saying demolitions won’t happen, demolitions are continuing everyday in Jaitpur, Burari and Timarpur,” AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj told The Indian Express when asked about why a campaign was being launched when the government has assured that no demolitions will take place.

Bharadwaj said party MLAs, councillors, leaders and workers would go door-to-door in affected colonies to collect signatures, which would later be submitted to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi,  demanding a legislation in the Parliament granting protection to O-Zone residents.  “We will go to the residents in all 91 of these colonies, which are spread across the assembly constituencies of Burari, Timarpur, Karawal Nagar, Okhla and Badarpur,” he said.

The campaign would last for around a month, Bharadwaj said.

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Referring to O-Zone areas, he said thousands of families had been living in these colonies for decades and were now facing uncertainty.

Devansh Mittal is a Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in the New Delhi City bureau. He reports on urban policy, civic governance, and infrastructure in the National Capital Region, with a growing focus on housing, land policy, transport, and the disruption economy and its social implications.

Professional Background

Education: He studied Political Science at Ashoka University.

Core Beats: His reporting focuses on policy and governance in the National Capital Region, one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world. He covers housing and land policy, municipal governance, urban transport, and the interface between infrastructure, regulation, and everyday life in the city.

Recent Notable Work

His recent reporting includes in-depth examinations of urban policy and its on-ground consequences:

An investigation into subvention-linked home loans that documented how homebuyers were drawn into under-construction projects through a “builder–bank” nexus, often leaving them financially exposed when delivery stalled.

A detailed report on why Delhi’s land-pooling policy has remained stalled since 2007, tracing how fragmented land ownership, policy design flaws, and mistrust among stakeholders have kept one of the capital’s flagship urban reforms in limbo.

A reported piece examining the collapse of an electric mobility startup and what it meant for women drivers dependent on the platform for livelihoods.

Reporting Approach

Devansh’s work combines on-ground reporting with analysis of government data, court records, and academic research. He regularly reports from neighbourhoods, government offices, and courtrooms to explain how decisions on housing, transport, and the disruption economy shape everyday life in the city.

Contact

X (Twitter): @devanshmittal_

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