Residents of as many as 310 dwelling units of the Yamuna Bazar residential cluster along the floodplains were on Thursday asked to vacate the area within 15 days by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

Issuing eviction notices, the DDMA termed the residential cluster an “illegal encroachment”, which gets inundated during Yamuna floods every year, posing a “serious threat to loss of human lives, cattle and property”. The residents have been directed to vacate the encroached land, remove their belongings and any structure, immediately or within 15 days from the date of issuance of the notice.

“Failure to comply with this order shall invite action, including demolition of unauthorised structures and eviction to be carried out by the authorities concerned without further notice,” it read.

The order noted that the cluster existing within the wall along the Yamuna in the O-zone constitutes “potential disaster risk”. Recurring flooding necessitates emergency response, including temporary relocation and rehabilitation, “resulting in strain on public resources and public exchequer”, read the order.