New Delhi: “After the demolition, our home is now the government’s property,” says Mukesh Kumar*, pointing towards the rubble beyond the staircase leading to the bank of the Yamuna. The entrance, now barricaded and guarded by police personnel and private security guards, is one he can no longer enter.A week after the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished hundreds of structures in Yamuna Bazar, Mukesh now lives behind his small paan shop under a blue tarpaulin sheet stretched between bamboo poles. His wife, three children and elderly mother sleep there with whatever they managed to salvage before the bulldozers arrived.He is among dozens of families now living along the roadside, in nearby parks and behind shops, with no certainty about where they will go next.Mukesh now lives behind his paan shop after his home was demolished in Yamuna Bazar. Photo: Uthara U.R.“They haven’t given us anything. They tore our home down but haven’t even spoken about rehabilitating us,” says Sunita*, another resident now living by the roadside. She says no rehabilitation or alternative permanent housing has been offered.“My great-grandfather built that house,” Mukesh says, recalling nearly 90 years of his family’s life in the settlement.Mukesh’s daughter makes jasmine garlands to supplement the family’s income. Photo: Uthara U.R.Residents say eviction notices had arrived over the years, including in 2006, but little followed. “Notices would keep coming,” Mukesh recalls.On June 25, however, the DDA carried out a demolition drive between Ghat No. 2 and Ghat No. 32 in Yamuna Bazar, clearing around 300 structures and affecting more than 1,000 people. The authority said the settlement falls within Delhi’s protected Yamuna floodplain, where permanent construction is prohibited, and described the drive as part of a larger effort to restore the river’s ecology and reduce flood risks. As part of this plan, the DDA has proposed restoring the historic ghats and developing the stretch as a public heritage precinct.Homes in Yamuna Bazar reduced to rubble after the demolition drive. Photo: Uthara U.R.Household belongings buried under the debris. Photo: Uthara U.R.For residents like Mukesh, however, the demolition raises a question that extends beyond this settlement: if these homes were always illegal, how did entire neighbourhoods come to exist here for decades?What is Zone O?The homes demolished in Yamuna Bazar stood within Delhi’s Zone O, an environmentally protected planning zone covering much of the Yamuna floodplain. Under the Delhi Master Plan, permanent residential construction is not permitted here because the floodplain is meant to preserve the river’s ecological functions.Yet over the decades, settlements steadily emerged across the area. Today, authorities estimate that around 91 unauthorised colonies, housing nearly 15 lakh people, fall within Zone O. Many acquired roads, water supply, electricity and other public services despite remaining outside Delhi’s formal planning framework. Although residential development on the floodplain remained prohibited, governments over successive decades allowed these settlements to grow. Families bought land, built homes, raised generations there, believing they had secured a permanent place in the city.Unlike many other unauthorised colonies, Zone O settlements were excluded from the PM-UDAY regularisation scheme because of their location on the floodplain, leaving residents without ownership rights even after decades of living there.In recent years, the National Green Tribunal directed authorities to demarcate the Yamuna floodplain and prevent further encroachments, prompting the DDA to begin surveys and mapping across Zone O. In May 2026, the Delhi high court held that residential colonies within Zone O were “completely impermissible” under the Delhi Master Plan. The Court barred fresh construction and directed the Union government to formulate a policy for the 91 existing colonies before the protections under the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act expire on December 31, 2026. While reaffirming the legal status of these settlements, it did not order the immediate demolition of every existing house.The entrance to the demolished settlement remains guarded by police personnel and private security guards. Photo: Uthara U.R.‘They didn’t even let us take our slippers’Sixty-year-old Sita* sits on a charpai by the roadside with a few salvaged mattresses and utensils beside her. “They haven’t given us anything,” says her younger brother. “They didn’t even talk about giving us another house after demolishing this one.”Sita says residents were initially told they would have time to remove their belongings before the demolition. “We thought we would slowly take our things out. Then suddenly the bulldozers came and everything was gone. They didn’t even let us take our slippers,” she says.Sita sits beside the road where she has been living since the demolition. Photo: Uthara U.R.Another resident, Ashish* who had lived in the settlement for nearly 20 years, says water and electricity were disconnected before the demolition.“They cut the water in the evening. Around three in the morning, they disconnected the electricity. The police presence was so heavy that we couldn’t say anything.Utensils salvaged from demolished homes line the roadside. Photo: Uthara U.R.Waiting“Those who could, left. It’s just us who are forced to remain behind,” Mukesh says.Some families have moved into rented rooms or relatives’ homes. Others continue to live behind shops, in nearby parks and along the roadside.Families continue to live along the roadside almost a week after the demolition. Photo: Uthara U.R.More than a week after the demolition, the rubble has not been cleared, many belongings remain inside the barricaded settlement. The uncertainty extends beyond those who lost their homes in Yamuna Bazar. For the nearly 15 lakh residents living across Delhi’s 91 Zone O colonies, the question of what happens after December 31, 2026, when the current legal protections expire, remains unanswered.*Names changed to protect anonymity.Uthara U.R. is an independent journalist.