On 5th September 2023, the alleged news agency CNN has published a report, written by Sania Farooqui, Rhea Mogul, and Vedika Sud. The report with the title, “India, advocate for the global poor, clears slums as G20 draw near”, claims that the encroachment removal drive in Delhi is being executed in order to make the capital city presentable in front of foreign guests attending the upcoming G20 summit.
The CNN report also claimed that “tens of thousands of New Delhi’s most marginalized residents have been evicted from their homes in the lead up to the G20 meeting, as authorities embark on a mass demolition drive in neighbourhoods across the city”. It also mentioned that slums near Pragati Maidan – the venue of the G20 Summit – have been removed.
As expected, this story went viral and a number of eminent personalities, media people, and politicians have been sharing this news and accusing the Modi Government of demolishing the houses of poors.
However, On Wednesday, 6th September 2023, the PIB (Press Information Bureau) bunked the claims made by a CNN report and confirmed that the encroachment removal has been happening to comply with the orders passed by the Supreme Court.
PIB also added that the eviction is not linked with the G20 Summit and the place where it is happening is not near the summit meeting venue.
In a post on social media platform X, PIB wrote, “CNN has made misleading claims regarding clearing encroachments in Delhi ahead of G20 Summit. Removal of encroachments is in compliance with orders passed by the Supreme Court. Demolition of structures at Tughlaqabad is unrelated to G20 & not near the venue.”
It is also correct that a small number of illegal houses were demolished near Pragati Maidan as per High Court orders, but CNN is claiming that tens of thousands of residents have been impacted ,which is utterly false claim. The bulk of the evictions are taking place around 15-20 km to the south, where a significant number of areas of encroached land have been recovered by demolishing illegal houses.
