Authorities demolish over 100 homes in Mumbai’s Darukhana
Mumbai:More than 100 houses in Darukhana, Mumbai, Maharashtra State, were demolished during an operation carried out by police and the Mumbai Port Authority (MPA), leaving several families homeless ahead of the monsoon season.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the residents in a statement said the police barricaded the entire area before demolition work. They claimed the operation was conducted “well outside official timings” and said residents were prevented from moving during the demolition.
Residents said that children were separated from their parents during the operation and that women were denied access to toilets.
“We are Indian citizens who have been living on this land for four generations. We built this entire land and worked here. But that day they treated us like we are terrorists,” residents participating in the protest said.
The residents said that the demolition was carried out without proper notice and claimed that many affected families possessed government documents supporting their stay.
They also said they had received support from MP Aravind Sawant, state cabinet minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and cited a government directive stating that evictions should not take place without a clear housing policy.
Despite this, they said, the Mumbai Port Authority proceeded with the demolition.
More than 350 residents are now living on the roadside amid a heat wave and with the monsoon approaching.
Residents have now begun an indefinite sit-in protest at the demolition site, demanding rehabilitation and withdrawal of cases filed against some residents.
“We have no place to go. We have lived here all our lives and we will die here. We will not leave until we get ghar ke badle ghar (a house for a house),” protesting residents said.
The residents said the protest would continue until their demands are met.
