Slum dwellers attempt to use the debris from demolition drive to reconstruct their hutments. (Photo: Shripad Naik)
A day after the BMC, forest department, police and the collector at Charkop, in a combined effort, demolished about 200 illegal settlements in Laxminagar, the dwellers gathered what they could from the rubble and were seen busy re-constructing their hutments on Thursday.
The slum at Laxminagar borders the 52-acre mangrove wetland and according to activists and officials, the area was also part of the wetlands but it was filled in illegally and soon illegal hutments cropped up in the area. In order to reclaim the wetland, authorities planned a joint three-day demolition drive. However, the authorities claim they were granted police protection for only a day. Hence, Wednesday saw officials from the BMC, forest department and police demolish approximately 200 hutments in the area. However, as the debris was not removed from the region, on Thursday, the slum dwellers retrieved materials from the debris and by the afternoon several of the hutments were almost half-repaired.
Interestingly, an RPI office that was constructed within the encroached area remained untouched during the demolition drive.
48-year-old Sangram Naik (name changed), a resident of Laximinagar and a father of three said, “We were not even given a notice before they razed our houses. I was not at home and my wife and kids could do nothing to stop the men. When my wife asked them who they were, they did not even reveal their names.” Mr Naik further added, “They broke our houses but not the RPI office.” The ‘office’ is a tin-roofed structure with an RPI board attached to it.
Local activists claim that the drive was just an eye-wash by the officials. “The officials were supposed to demolish the structures, take the rubble away and file complaints against the encroachers but all they did was somehow demolish the hutments,” said Reji Abraham, an activist from Charkop.
While officials refused to comment on the party office left intact, assistant commissioner of R south ward, Sahebrao Gaikwad said that the demolition drive was cut short to just one day as police protection was granted for just one day. “Our demolition drive was successful as we pulled down about 200 illegal settlements. But it is BMC’s responsibility to remove the debris.” Also commenting on the issue, chief conservator of forest, mangrove cell, N. Vasudevan said they are working for the area to be dredged and restored. “Getting police protection right before Republic Day is difficult so we will try again after January 26 to demolish the illegal settlements completely, remove the debris and restore the wetland.”
