Mumbai: Anxiety grips 250-300 Suman Nagar families facing eviction from CR by November 15

For hundreds of families living in Suman Nagar Chembur the festive season has given way to anxiety over their homes With the November 15 eviction deadline approaching residents of shanties along the Harbour and Central railway tracks fear they could be rendered homeless with little time to find alternative accommodationldquoThey have just verbally told us that they are going to establish a car shed for the trains No official reason has been givenrdquo said resident Anant JadhavAccording to a notice issued by Central Railway CR on October 15 a copy of which is with midday residents occupying shanties on either side of the railway tracks have been directed to vacate their homes within a month Railway officials have also begun demarcation work in the areaA CR official said the eviction was being carried out in compliance with court orders and that none of the families qualified for rehabilitationldquoThe procedure is being carried out as per the High Court orders We are not doing anything against the law None of the families are eligible for rehabilitation In any case whenever the families are eligible they have always received accommodation As per the court order we will be giving them Rs 2000 per month for the next six monthsrdquo the official saidOct 15Day when the Railways served notice to vacate the houses within a monthrsquos timeResidents question eligibility criteriaAnant JadhavResidents however dispute the Railwaysrsquo position claiming they have documents to establish their eligibility and longstanding residence at the addressThey cited census records from 2001 and 2011 voter ID cards Aadhaar cards electricity bills and BMC water bills as proof of their association with the localityldquoFrom 2001 and 2011 census papers voter IDs Aadhaar cards electricity bills mdash we have everything on this address Moreover we also have BMCrsquos water bills on this very address If we are illegal encroachments why are the municipality and other government bodies providing us these facilities for decades At least 250300 families have all the proofs of eligibility documentsrdquo Anant Jadhav said Residents questioned how hundreds of families were expected to arrange alternative accommodation within a monthEviction deadline adds to Diwali anxietyShankar TandelResidents said the timing of the notice which coincides with Diwali and childrenrsquos examinations has added to their distressldquoThe timing could not have been worse Diwali is around the corner and instead of preparing for the festival we are wondering where we will sleep after November 15 We have spent years building our homes and have documents to support our claims How can we simply be asked to leaverdquo said resident Shankar TandelSwapnali AbanaveldquoMy child has exams coming up but it is impossible to concentrate when we do not know whether we will have a roof over our heads in the coming few days We cannot think about buying new clothes or celebrating Diwali Our only concern is to save our homesrdquo said Swapnali AbanavelsquoWe have built our lives herersquoFor many families the proposed eviction is not just about losing their homes but also the neighbourhood livelihoods and support systems they have built over the yearsldquoI was born here Lived my entire life here got married and now have two kids of my own All of this happened at this very place We are not asking for anything special We only want the authorities to examine our documents and hear our side before taking such a drastic step There are hundreds of families here Where are we supposed to go with our children and belongingsrdquo said BenuResidents plan legal challengeSandesh KadamAdvocate Sandesh Kadam said residents were planning to approach the court again seeking relief for families who claim to have documents establishing their eligibility for rehabilitationldquoWe have also planned to file another separate PIL in the coming week to ensure that at least these 250300 families who have all documents and proofs get justice We had already submitted the documents to the Railways But they paid no heedrdquo Kadam saidHe also claimed that some residents had documents suggesting that the land the Railways was seeking to claim did not entirely belong to it and was partly owned by Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers RCF