Mumbai: The Mumbai suburban collector’s office on Wednesday carried out a massive demolition drive along the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road, clearing an 11-acre plot of over 1,200 hutments. Mumbai suburban collector Saurabh Katiyar said the plot, which belongs to the revenue dept, was mapped by satellite, showing slum settlements from 2000 onwards. Katiyar said slums that came up post-2011 on the site were removed in Wednesday’s action amid heavy police bandobast. “The public works dept has already started the work of building a compound wall to secure the plot. By night, erection of tin sheet barricades will be completed and the work on a concrete compound wall will be completed within a fortnight,” he said. The state cabinet has approved a police detention centre in Mankhurd. Katiyar said several proposals have been received for projects on the plot. However, the final decision will be taken by the govt. Shailendra Kamble, Mumbai secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), said the area is home to some of the poorest citizens in the city and they had been living there for more than 10 years. “The action goes against the Centre’s directive of not allowing any citizen to be homeless. Under PM Narendra Modi’s Housing for All scheme, the state govt should have first provided alternate accommodation to the people before demolishing their homes. Our demand is that the govt provide homes to all these people,” he said.
