Demolition Drive in Mumbai

Demolition Drive in Mumbai AS independent India celebrates 50 years of 'azadi', Mumbai is currently witnessing the most vicious demolition drive against slum- dwellers the city has ever seen. The government of Maharashtra has launched a no- hotds-barred war against the poor and the shelterless since October 1. Ward officers have been given demolition quotas, and the chief minister had announced a target of 35,000 hutments before Diwali. Reports have come in from all sides about the inhuman misery created by the senseless government action. Though the BMC and the government say those residing since before 1995 will not be touched, their bulldozers don't bother to check the documents before crushing everything in their path. It has been a black Diwali for the poor. More than 5,000 huts have been razed in the bastis on Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Babrekar Nagar, in Kandivli west, which was demolished in the height of monsoons killing several children, has again seen several rounds of demolition. Pavement dwellers on P D Mello Road and in Madanpura and Nagpada, who are on the voters list since 1985, have also not been spared.