'Razing slums in rains violates state's rules'

MUMBAI: It’s a case of your vote being valid while your home is not.
Activists said hundreds of Dharavi families spent the better part of the day gathering their belongings from debris, after the BMC demolished around 500 shanties and many shops around the water pipeline this week. Many people have taken shelter from the rain by living under trucks parked along the road.
The activists added, the action violates a state government ban on demolishing slums during the monsoon.They also rubbished the BMC’s claim that only 244 hutments were razed. Less than 100 of the affected families were rehabilitated, activists alleged.
The demolitions came after the high court dismissed a stay on razing huts around the water pipeline at Mahim. “The HC order is not a licence to demolish homes in an inhuman manner,” said Vinod Shetty of Acorn Foundations, a voluntary organization working in Dharavi.
“We are not saying that people should live around water pipelines. The government needs to chart out a comprehensive housing policy instead of rendering them homeless. Many have been living here well before 1995, and yet they have no proof of residence. This has much to do with the blatant corruption involved in procuring documents such as ration cards and other proof.” Shetty said .
He added, “The BMC seems to think that it must follow only the HC order, while violating every other law of the land. The BMC could be using the high court order to clear as much land as it can so that fewer homes fall under
the DRP.”
Fatima Ansari, a mother of two children, whose home was destroyed, claimed she could not afford the bribe required for a ration card, and so, despite living in Dharavi for over 16 years, is not eligible for rehabilitation. Sairunissa Ansari, a widow with five children, was also rendered homeless. She said she has an electricity bill for April 2000, but needs bills from 1999 to be eligible for rehabilitation.
While Hakim Ali Shaikh is eligible for rehabilitation, he is yet to receive an allotment letter. Not everyone eligible for rehabilitation has shifted to the premises allotted to the project-affected people in Mankhurd, since it is farther away from their sources of livelihood.
A man, who runs a recycling shop, lost part of his godown in the demolitions. His financial losses are huge. “If I shift to Mankhurd I would get a mere 225 sq ft in return. But under the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan (DRP), I would get almost as much land as I own, and that too in the locality,” he said.