Instead of providing them with houses within a radius of 5 km, the BMC has offered to shift them to Mahul; locals refuse to move to 'highly polluted' area
Authorities have made temporary arrangements for the affected families at a nearby school
Even as three landslides in the past month have left a number of residents of Jan Seva Society in Goregaon homeless, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is yet to provide them accommodation. The affected families have been living in a nearby school Bal Vidyalaya and some of them have even shifted to their neighbours' houses. While the civic body is supposed to provide them with houses within a 5-km radius, the BMC is asking them to shift to Mahul. However, the locals have refused to accept this considering the alarming levels of air and water pollution in the area.
The first landslide happened a month ago on July 2, the second one took place on July 24 in which 30 families were affected and the third one occurred on August 5 in which 15 families were affected. Society chairman Suresh Punan Prajapati said, "Most of the affected families were living on rent in the society, hence the collector did not conduct a survey. The BMC plans to vacate the stretch from Lucky Hotel to Raheja Township for which they are giving houses in Mahul. But, as per the law, they should give houses within a 5-km radius."
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Ravi Kumar Shukla, 21, who is currently living with his parents in a rented space at Bhim Nagar, lost his house in the July 2 incident. "We haven't received any compensation as the society chairman thought that our house was a rented one, whereas we owned it." Rukheiya Sheik Abdullah, who lost her house in the July 24 incident, said, "The civic body has provided space for us to live at a nearby school but most of the women have started staying with the neighbours. The local corporator provided us with food for a couple of days after which we haven't received anything."
Lata Dilip Shinde, who lost her house on August 5, said, "The chairman of the society didn't get a survey of my house done saying it wasn't affected much but if you see my house it's full of debris." When contacted, local corporator, Swapnil Tembwalkar, said, "The civic body is giving houses at Mahul but people aren't willing to go there because of the high levels of air and water pollution. I am trying my best to convince BMC and MHADA to provide them with houses nearby."
Also Read: Mumbai Rains: Three die after overnight downpour in in a slum at Dindoshi, Goregaon East
350
No. of families hit by landslides
24
No. of families left homeless
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