Most of the residents National Herald speaks to are worried over worsening sanitary conditions. The sewage water has started overflowing from dilapidated drains onto the lanes and is seeping into their houses as well. “Since morning, I’ve twice cleared our room of sewage water with a bucket. You finish and the dirty water starts seeping in, again and again,” says Suman, whose house touches the boundary wall of the Delhi Race Club and the nullah.





The public toilets of the settlement are dilapidated and in urgent need of repair. Roots have made their way across the walls and roofs. A cave-in is a distinct possibility.





“I am worried that my family may get infected with diseases anytime soon,” an anxious Suman says, pointing at the blocked sewage pipe of the small makeshift toilet cum bathroom adjacent to her room.





“Save us from the high-handedness and hooliganism of Delhi Race Club. For the past 50 years, the sewage water of our drains was flowing into the nullah that runs along the Delhi Race Club wall. But the club’s officials have got our drains blocked and pipes dismantled. Consequently, our women have been facing a lot of issues. Taking bath has become such a problem. Absence of a proper drainage system has led to waterlogging in our camp. Rainwater also flows into these drains. With our drainage system broken, there is stink everywhere and we fear that an epidemic may break out soon,” reads an official complaint filed on May 26 with Police Station, Tughlak Road, by Ramesh Kumar, head of the camp. Many residents signed the same.