Rescue hero turns down DDA’s temporary housing proposal

Hours after razing his house in a demolition drive, DDA offered to move Wakeel Hassan, a rat-hole miner who was part of the Silkyara tunnel rescue operation, and his family to temporary accommodation, but he declined the offer, sources said on Thursday.
Hassan went on to say that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials also told him that he would soon be provided a house in the Govindpuri area, but he refused to accept the offer as it was only a “verbal assurance.”

Some TV channels showed Hassan and his family sitting and having dinner amid the rubble of what used to be their home.
He spent the night on a footpath with his wife and their two children. The family’s neighbours’ provided them food and other necessary items.

Hassan’s house was razed in a demolition drive carried out by the DDA in northeast Delhi’s Khajoori Khas area. Several other houses were demolished during the drive.
Not long ago, the rat-hole miner was feted for his role in rescuing, with his team, 41 workers trapped in Uttarkashi’s Silkyara tunnel in November last year.

“Some DDA officials went to the demolition site and offered to move Hassan and his family to temporary accommodation, but he refused the offer,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Hassan said he wants authorities to make their offer in writing.
“Around midnight, some DDA officers came and offered to shift me and my family to a guest house in Vasant Kunj,” Hassan said.