Raipur’s Nakati Village: A Ground Report as 80 Homes Make Way for MLA Colony

Amidst the debris of broken lives, residents of Nakati village question the state’s sudden move to demolish homes for a new legislative housing project.

The silence in Raipur’s Nakati village is deceptive. Scattered across the ground are the remnants of domestic life: steel plates, school bags, family photographs, and tangled wires—all that remains after the administration’s eviction drive. As of Monday, over 80 homes have been razed to the ground to clear 56 acres of land for a proposed MLA colony. For the district administration, this was a routine anti-encroachment exercise carried out under Section 248 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959. For the families who have lived here for generations, it was the day their world turned to rubble.

A Landscape of Contradictions

Accessing the ground zero of this report was a test of persistence. With security forces enforcing a tight perimeter and barricades placed nearly a kilometer away, entering the village required navigating through neighboring fields. The scene inside was haunting: families sat in silence beside salvaged belongings while heavy machinery continued its work. Many of these residents, primarily daily-wage laborers, point to a glaring contradiction—if their occupation was illegal, why were they granted electricity connections and water facilities under the Jal Jeevan Mission? Furthermore, approximately 30 of the demolished houses were constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), a central government scheme aimed at providing housing for the poor.

The Ownership Dispute

The tension in Nakati is rooted in a fundamental disagreement over land records. Residents, such as Roshan Sahu, assert that their ancestors were the original owners of the land, which was later classified as 'shamilat charagah' (reserved grazing land) for village use. They point to the 'Bhuiyan' app records, claiming that Khasra number 460 still bears the names of local families. According to villagers, they received eviction notices as recently as April 17, yet the sudden deployment of a massive police force and a fleet of बुलडोज़र (bulldozers) on a Monday morning left them with little time to process the loss, despite earlier assurances from local political figures that no demolitions would occur during the monsoon season.

Why it Matters

The destruction in Nakati highlights a recurring friction point in urban planning: the tension between state-led infrastructure development and the rights of long-term settlers. When a government provides basic amenities like piped water and housing subsidies to a locality, it implicitly acknowledges the legitimacy of that settlement. To suddenly pivot and label these residents as encroachers creates a crisis of accountability. While the administration promises rehabilitation in EWS housing in New Raipur, the immediate trauma of displacement and the loss of social capital in a settled village cannot be simply mitigated by allotment letters. This case serves as a sharp reminder of the need for transparent land audit processes before projects—even those for elected representatives—are fast-tracked.

The Path Forward

Political rhetoric has predictably intensified, with opposition leaders questioning the ethics of prioritizing legislative housing over the homes of the poor. Meanwhile, government officials maintain that the process followed due legal notice and that eligible families will be accommodated in a phased manner. As the dust settles in Nakati, the questions remain: how does a settlement exist for decades under the state's own infrastructure umbrella only to be declared illegal overnight? The displaced villagers now wait to see if their relocation will be a reality or another broken promise in the shadow of the new colony.