'Everything we own is buried under debris'

Residents of SVP Nagar in Andheri say they did not even have time to remove their belongings before the BMC razed their illegally altered MHADA-allotted houses yesterday

THE BMC demolished 30 MHADA-allotted structures in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Nagar in Andheri last afternoon because the residents had illegally added another floor to them.
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The demolition followed a 2009 High Court order to the effect but residents complained that the civic body had not given them enough time to remove their belongings.


A BMC worker demolishes an illegal mezzanine floor on a structure in SVP Nagar in Andheri

The demolition began in Society No 1, which is one of the 98 societies of the SVP Nagar-Laxmi Industrial Estate-Adarsh Nagar belt that have 4,232 such structures.
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The lower income group houses were allotted in the 1980s and MHADA had clearly mentioned that the structures should not be altered at all.

However, nearly 90 per cent of the structures were altered and extra floors were added with mezzanine floor as well as lofts.

NGO Disha had filed a PIL with the High Court in January last year and the court had ordered the BMC to raze all the altered houses. "We plan to demolish as many structures as we can," said a BMC official.

Residents, however, say they were not given enough time to empty the houses of their belongings. Dhanaji Bhonsle (22), a resident said, "The BMC came at 11:30 am and began demolishing our houses at noon.

We had received a notice but didn't know it would happen today. We couldn't get all our belongings out."

Ankush Pole (48), another resident, said, "I was at work when my wife called me and told me about the demolition.

I had to rush back immediately. The BMC should have told us the demolition would take place at noon today.

We were caught off guard and will now have to scour for our belongings in the debris. Everything we own is buried there."

Redevelopment

Many societies in the area are going in for redevelopment and have already signed contracts with some developers.

Residents say societies which haven't finalised deals yet are being targeted. "Nearly 50 of the 98 societies have already signed contracts with the developers.

The BMC is not doing anything to them. The others would have got finalised within some days and we had requested the BMC to give us some time, but that never happened," said a resident, requesting anonymity.

Some small shops built by residents have been razed too. "I built the structure and furnished it with new electronics a year back.

I saw it being razed in front of my eyes today," rued one such resident.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Rajendra Bhonsle said, "All the residents knew about the demolition as the matter has been going on for nearly a year and a half.

We are razing the structures as per the High Court order. However, we will not be razing buildings in the societies that have finalised the redevelopment plans."

4,232
The number of such illegal structures in the SVP Nagar-Laxmi Industrial Estate-Adarsh Nagar belt