Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
BMC demolishes 7 slum houses after landslide in Ghatkopar
After a minor landslide struck the Himalaya Society situated on a hill in Ghatkopar West, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished seven slum houses situated above the site of the landslide on Saturday. Thirtytwo individuals lived in the seven houses that were affected. Following the incident, they have been relocated to a civic school.
A section of these houses contributed to the landslide on Friday
night, resulting in minor injuries to two individuals and causing roof damage to several neighbouring homes. Ashfaq Barkati, 60, and now homeless, said, “The earth beneath our houses is loose, and some part of it had been hanging for a while.” He emphasised, “But there was no fault in our homes. They were strong houses made of cement long back, we’ve been living here for 35 years.”
“The BMC came in the morning and asked us to take our stuff out , and demolished our homes. No notice was given,” said another resident, Bilal Haider. “We managed to remove and keep some of our belongings in the madrassa nearby, and the rest we will have to dig out. Our objections were not addressed by the BMC, even though we have all our documents,” he said “We’ve lost everything in a day.”
Haider echoed this, saying, “We have documents proving our residence in these houses.” Despite threats of living on hill, the residents said they continued to stay out in the monsoon, hoping no disaster would strike. Barkati said civic body was accommodating them in a BMC school for two days, but was unsure of what he would do following it.
The assistant commissioner of the L ward, Dhanaji Hirlekar, said, “The cause of the landslide was the collapse of a wall from illegal unauthorised shanties over the houses. We’ve demolished them because they are dangerous, and can pose a threat. We’re accommodating the families in school temporarily.” When asked about lack of notices, he said the houses were illegal, and they needn’t be given notices. If the residents have stayed there for over 30 years as they say, they would be compensated as per the policy.