Given the mammoth scale of the clearing of Garib Nagar to the east of Bandra station, we have already highlighted why encroachment and illegalities like these are allowed in the first place, so that we need a days-long operation with a huge police presence as the area is being cleared out.

The city is also tense when such eviction drives are carried out as there is always a danger of things spiralling out of control. This is a tinderbox situation, and one spark can set off a blaze.