Reporting from the front line always demands a choice: do I look through my camera or look out for my own safety? On Wednesday afternoon, the line between observer and the target blurred within seconds.

By the time I arrived at Bandra East’s Garib Nagar, the air was heavy with dust, despair, and palpable anger. Hundreds had already lost their homes since the Western Railway launched its massive eviction and demolition drive on Tuesday morning. All that remained was an apocalyptic landscape of rubble, broken furniture, utensils, and makeshift tents.