On January 17 2017, an MoU was signed between V. Srinivas, the deputy director of AIIMS, and the NBCC at an event called the “signing ceremony”. The then director of AIIMS, professor M.C. Misra, invited the AIIMS community to this event. Also present were Venkaiah Naidu (then Union urban development minister) and Shri J.P. Nadda, the Union health minister.

But some staff members of AIIMS decided to mark their protest at this event. The previous day, the Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying they would observe this event as a “black day”.

Why did the doctors of AIIMS to protest? And why should it matter to the people of Delhi?

For those who have been closely following the two cases in the Delhi high court on East Kidwai Nagar (EKN) and the seven government housing colonies, “redevelopment” would suffice as the one-word answer to the aforementioned questions. This word has come to signify the worst of environmental and urban planning and governance and public loot by government agencies.

It strikes fear and anger in the hearts of citizens who deal with the air, water, housing and traffic crises in Delhi on a daily basis. The projects involve the commercialisation and privatisation of high-value public lands,1 the loss of urban ecology and heritage and an increased burden on public infrastructures like roads and groundwater.

Project documents such as the MoU, the cabinet papers and approval letters reveal the extent of collusion between NBCC – the project proponent of EKN – and 7 GPRA and Central government agencies, expert bodies, consultants and senior MPs in pushing through these projects. Both projects, costing over Rs 37,000 crore, are now stuck in courts.

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• 1. In January 2019, the environment ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) recommended the environment clearance for both Ayur Vigyan Nagar and West Ansari Nagar projects. These projects were approved by the Central ministry only because the Delhi State Environment Impact Assessment (SEIAA) authority’s term had expired in April 2018. Since then neither the Centre nor the GNCTD has pushed for its reconstitution.

  These projects have been approved based on incomplete assessments, “copy-paste” EIA reports and assurances of future approvals for critical resources such as water. The EIA reports of both the sites carry an identical description of the study area and population estimates listed in Table 3.21.