Garibnagar slum demolition stayed

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to maintain status quo for a week in regard to the demolition of the shanties at Garibnagar in Bandra (east). The order came after few residents of Garibnagar approached the HC against the demolition drive, saying the action was taken without following due procedure. Though the BMC had told the court that the demolition drive was over, the petitioners have claimed that some shanties are still there. Following this, the court directed the civic body to maintain status quo till the next date of hearing.

The division bench of Justice Vasanti Naik and Justice Riyaz Chagla had asked the BMC to file reply on the allegations made in the petition and has also directed it not to take any further coercive action till the next date of hearing.

The land on which Garibnagar slum is situated is partially owned by the Railways and the BMC. According to the Municipal Corporation, the demolition drive is part of the its action to comply with an earlier HC order directing the demolition of residential and commercial structures lying within 10 m of the Tansa pipeline.

Nilofer Qureshi and five other residents of Garibnagar slum have moved the petition through advocate Mathews Nedumpara and R.R. Nair, claiming that the BMC did not give them enough time to save their belongings and move to a safer place. They alleged that the civic body issued a mandatory 48 hours’ notice asking residents to vacate the area, however it came down to demolish the slum the next day, merely after 15 hours.

The petitioners have claimed that since the BMC has evicted them, they can’t be left homeless and the civic body should rehabilitate them.