About Shahpur Jat

Shahpur Jat is an old urban village settlement dating back to 900years. It is located near the panchsheel area of South Delhi. Many generations have witnessed the rise and fall of this settlement.
Of late it has emerged as an organic settlement tailoring its street layout and built fabric of its own. It is listed in the Lal Dora area of Delhi.

Within recent year Shahpur Jat is a witnessing a significant change in its social and economic set up. The entire well – known fashion designer of Delhi have started establishing their own outlets and showrooms in this village.

History
According to the elders of the village some Hindu king founded the area where present day Shah Pur Jat is located, 10,000 years ago. There was a fort and palace here. 5000 years back ‘Pandavs’ took the stones of that fort to the area where there is old fort.
The excavations in the Old Fort area from where pieces of painted greyware dated around 1000 BC, related to Mahabharata were found support this. Relics and remains of later period found here confirm the belief that Purana Quila was built on the site of Indraprastha, the capital of Pandavs. The history between 715 AD to 1311AD is not clear.
When Allau din Khilji conquered almost the whole of North India he erected a fortified city on this site. The city- ‘Siri’ was built on a large scale with palaces and other structures and had seven gates for the people to enter or exit the city. Though no remains of the structures have been found except the southeastern gate but it is said that the main palace of the fort was very beautiful and profusely decorated with precious gems and expensive stones.Even today Shah Pur Jat has Tohfewala Gumbad Masjid and ruins of domed structures belonging to the Khilji period.
Mughals ruled Delhi in succession starting from Qutab-ub-din to Khilji, Tughlaqs. The city of Delhi passed on to the hands of the British in 1803 AD. It was only in 1911, when the capital of British empire was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi, that Delhi got its present prestige.
During this period a Jaat family from village Indri shifted to this area. As they expanded the village began to be known as Shahpur Jat. For sixty years the jats and balmikies lived in this green haven happily and peacefully.

Degradation
In 1978, the government acquired the land of most of the jats of the area and hefty amounts were paid. On the acquired land posh colonies like Asian Games Village, Panchsheel Park and Hauz Khas came up. The villagers with their compensation money expanded their small open houses to cramped up, matchbox like, haphazard concrete structures. As they had no land to make them work, and money more than they required the whole generation got into drinking, gambling and gossiping.



1 Nagar Nigam Prathmik Vidyalaya (Boys)
2. Nagar Nigam Prathmik Vidyalaya (Gis)
3. Co-ed. Higher Secondary School
4. Total No. of Students is 3,000.
5. Total (Native) Population is: 15,000
6. Total (Non-resident) population: 15,000.
7. Total No. of households: 755.
9. Total clinic are 11: 2 homeopathic, 2 Allopathic.
10. Total cast profile
Jat: - about 300 households
Harijan about 200.households
Valmiki: about 90. households
Others: about 150 ( Badhai, Baniya, kumhar, Braman, Nai)11. Total garbage: 70-75 Quintal per day (From five Bins).

The green clean village of 50’s had become dirty, denuded, crowded and polluted by mid 80’s. 70% of its 500 metric tons of garbage produced every day remained unclear. To remedy this problem rag pickers came from a slum 7 kms away early in the morning and they work through the day The adoption of throw away culture by the residents of this village has led to the plastics choking its sewers and green areas, making it an unhygienic area to live in.

The rate at which vehicles were increasing in Shah Pur Jat was inversely proportionate to the rate, at which its green areas had decreased. Result was over crowded, broken roads And air and noise pollution.

The seven historic wells of the village had dried up and the village had moved towards water stress zone. On one hand there was not enough water to drink for most residents on the other hand there was excessive water wastage by some prominent rich families.

Mission
To help Shah Pur Jat regain its pristine glory, residents adopt healthier, eco-friendly lives, building up capacities through proper skill development, gradation of skills, creating resource-based jobs, linking livelihoods with the existing markets with in this urban village so that it becomes a shoppers paradise and lifestyle hub of the city.

Funding
The initial resources to start our work at Shah Pur Jat have been managed from Vatavaran’s already well-established waste management scheme at University of Delhi South campus. The monthly emoluments for Vatavaran teams come from the administration. Our teams collect the waste from house to house, segregate it into biodegradable and recyclables compost the biodegradable and sell the recyclables. The money that we get from the kabari (Individuals dealing in recyclables are known as Kabaries in Hindi-India’s National language) is being used to hire a office in Shahpur Jat, employ project personnel and to get some awareness campaigns materials.
However we are depending on the residents, businesses and others for finance. We are also starting some innovative schemes to create small finance for the bettermen of Shahpur Jat.