When there's no home to call your own

Phorum Dalal meets victims and survivors who are running from pillar to post to reclaim their homes It was a Saturdayrdquo recalls 26yearold Aashna Qureshi erstwhile resident of Banoo 5 once a multistoried building in Mumbra The nondescript structure shot to limelight when it came crashing down like a pack of cards on September 21 ldquoThe following Wednesday we had a wedding in the family lsquoShaadi ka ghar tha my brotherinlaw was tying the knotrdquo recalls Aashna as she pushes a bundle of clothes behind the bed and tidies the 300 square feet room in Mustafa Chawl where 11 members of the Qureshi family are presently residing The crash took the life of Tousif another brotherinlaw and for three days Aashna along with two other family members stood guard at the site and collected any belongings they could lay their hands on ldquoWe had three cupboards full of shopping bags full of clothes and even valuables we had brought from our motherrsquos houserdquo 20yearold Zarine Aashnarsquos sisterinlaw interrupts from one corner of the house the horror of the crash and what it did to them clearly visible in her young eyes On the day of the incident the women had woken up at 7 am to fill water in the vessels ldquoSuddenly our neighbours came rushing asking us to leave everything and run down as a room in their house had caved inrdquo says Aashna ldquoThe moment I stepped out of the building and turned to look at the structure it collapsed In that one second we lost everythingrdquo says Zarine with a tremble in her voice The Qureshi family many of whom work as butchers is presently staying in a room that belongs to a distant relative ldquoWhen we came here we didnrsquot have any vessels or clothes Everything is borrowedrdquo says Aashna Aashna Qureshi lives in Mustafa Chawl in Mumbra with nine other family members in a 150 square feet room that belongs to one of their relatives PicSameer Markande Rent is higher than my wage Later that same afternoon we meet 36yearold Aslam Ansari at the spot where the building once stood ldquoWe were 10 of us living in a 550 square feet flat On September 15 we were told that the columns of our building were shakyrdquo recalls Ansari who works in an aluminum factory But not everyone who lost their home in the crash here have lost hope Not yet Last week Ansari attended a meeting with other residents where they decided to hire a lawyer and sue the builder ldquoIt is our land and we want permission to rebuild our homes through cluster development The BMC gave us a room in Vartak Nagar Thane but it was so small that we refused itrdquo he says Another problem Ansari is facing is procuring a gas cylinder ldquoThe officials ask us for documents in spite of our names being registered We lost all our papers how do I submit them The only relief that has come is from the Jamiat UlamaeMaharashtra that distributed R10000 to every flat owner ldquoI have to pay a rent of R8000 now when my monthly income is R7000 And I cannot go to work till I sort out issues here My life is on hold and nothing else mattersrdquo says Ansari One emotion that rings common between victims of building collapses across the city is that of helplessness and confusion with help taking more than the promised time to arrive Sunita Sancheti moved all her belongings to her unclersquos garage after the BMC issued a notice on October 1 to raze the unauthorised floors in Campa Colarsquos Midtown building Today she lives here with her husband and motherinlaw with only two daysrsquo ration PicsBipin Kokate Hope in the times of despair While some families do escape with only emotional injuries and are fighting to build a new roof many are grieving the lives lost in these crashes On September 27 when Babu Genu market building collapsed in Dockyard Road 30yearold Tushar Pawar who works in a private healthcare company lost his entire family including his parents two sisters and grandmother ldquoI have not got any compensation or accommodation so far The BMC says the process is on I am running from pillar to post as they keep asking me to submit documents and fill forms They have also promised me a job but nothing has happened so farrdquo says Tushar who is now living with his aunt ldquoKya bolu main aapko sab kuch khatam ho gaya hai What do I tell you everything is over On the day of the collapse I left for work and the moment I reached office I got a call informing me that my house had collapsed At first I could not understand what it meant When I reached the site they told me my family had been wiped out ldquoI want justice We have been receiving corporation from from the local corporator as well as the Municipal Mazdoor Union but the BMCrsquos administration needs to corporate I want them to give me a job and shelter All those responsible for the crash should be punished Till then I wonrsquot restrdquo says Pawaru00a0 Aslam Ansari and Abdul Bokhari stand on the land where Banoo 5 once stood in Mumbra The residents met last week to hire a lawyer and file a case against the builder u00a0PicSameer Markande Not a shirt in my bag For many in Mumbai losing a home does not always mean a crash The residents of seven buildings in Campa Cola compound in Worli for instance are living each day knowing that the home they bought with their lifersquos savings will be demolished soon The Bombay High Court had on September 26 dismissed a writ petition by the residents seeking regularisation of 35 illegal floors across all the buildings and now the Supreme Court has given them time till November 11 to move out But what about people like 90yearold Asha Andayal It takes her 10 minutes to walk out of her bedroom to the living room on the eight floor of Midtown building She insists that she will meet us ldquoAre you trying to drive me out of my houserdquo the 90yearold lashes out only to flash a hopeful smile when we tell her we are here to listen ldquoOur house is 25 years old Supreme court bola ke chale jao toh jana padega Par kahan the court says so we have to go But whererdquo she asks Though Andayal doesnrsquot know the details of the case and loses sense of time and space she knows something is wrong ldquoI want to die in this very house That will make me happyrdquo she says Sunita Sanchetilsquos home only has bare neccessities The family fears having to move out at a dayrsquos notice From pillar to post A few minutes later we meet 24yearold financial broker Ankit Shah who lives on the seventh floor of Patel building Shah is actively involved in the campaign to save the houses ldquoOur flats have been tagged unauthorised because the builder built more floors than he had permission for We are being thrown out through no fault of ours The Supreme Court has extended the deadline to vacate the flats in Campa Cola by another month ending November 11rdquo he says Ninetyyearold Asha Andayal who lives on the eighth floor of Midtown apartments in Campa Cola is disturbed at the idea of moving out of her home where she has lived for the past 25 years PicBipin Kokate Fight we must ldquoI am at an age when I should be focusing on my career But I have taken leave to fight for our buildingsrdquo says Shah who is in charge of handling events the press talking to people and going to lawyers In this uncertain atmosphere Shah has a new routine His day begins at 7 am as he heads to the residentsrsquo meeting at 830 am We are anticipating what will happen next searching for solutions making a list of people we can approach for help In the past four months I have not sat with my family or had a relaxed conversation with them My day ends past midnightrdquo says Shah who lives with his parents twin sister and elder brother ldquoThere is a lot of tension So many families have moved out and many have even returned to their native place as they cannot afford to rent a flat anywhere in Mumbairdquo says Shah The wounds are raw and the emotions are running high The powersthatbe ministers babus and civic authorities do precious little to help the victims and more often than not work handinglove with builders responsible for the mess Is anyone listening lsquoAll my bagsu00a0are packedrsquo On September 30 this year 46yearold Sunita Sancheti along with her husband Suresh cleaned out their cupboards and storage shelves and packed all their belongings including the airconditioners and television set She transferred the cartons to her unclersquos garage the next day ldquoWith the BMC threatening to raze our floor I emptied the entire housequot she says pointing to the hanging wires open sockets and empty walls inside her apartment in Midtown building in the Campa Cola Society ldquoAll we have are two chairs a divan and beds to sleep on This is the most unimaginable thing that has happened in my life After 23 years of living in this house the BMC says that we canrsquot live here any more Today we have nothing We are worrying even in our sleep We checked a few flats in the area to rent but they are so expensiverdquo says Sancheti who now stocks food and groceries for only two days at a time ldquoI will stay here till they push me outrdquo she says adding that she is worried for her husband a heart patient ldquoAfter 30 years of working in Mumbai it breaks his heart that we could not even buy a decent house But we will fight till the very endrdquo concludes Sancheti u00a0